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What time and neglect are ruining, the World Monuments Fund

is fighting to preserve

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World Monuments Fund and founding «nnnsor American Express created the World

Monuments Watch in 1996 to raise public awareness of the plight of the world's

st endangered sites and attract he funding needed to save them. American Express has

emi t ted $10 million over lars to the Watch. For

r a s t eight years, American press Publishing's Travel + sure magazine has devoted

a special section to the Watch, contributing 10 percent of all net "dvertising revenue to the cause.

Tt are proud to be associated with e World Monuments Watch itiative and the vital work of the

y/orld Monuments Fund.

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T R A V E L + LEISURE

W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7

W O R L D M O N U M E N T S

Founded in 1965, the World Monuments Fund is dedicated to the preservation of

imperiled works of art and architecture worldwide through fieldwork, advocacy,

grantmaking, education, and training. A New York-based organization, WMF has

affiliates and offices in France, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

I C O N is funded in part through the generosi ty of the Brown Foundat ion, Inc. of Houston,

the Paul Mel lon Educat ion Fund, and Paul Beirne

F E A T U R E S

IO Iraq's Beleaguered Heritage

W M F and the Get ty Conservat ion Institute

remain commi t ted to aiding their Iraqi colleagues

12 St George's Hall, Liverpool

A neoclassical ¡con will soon shine again

Visions of Heaven and Hell Restoring an extraordinary mural cycle

in the Peruvian Andes

Bal lie lor Ballersca The saga of the London landmark continues

Rebuilding the BuildingArts Ensuring a future for the field of preservat ion

34 Between a Rock and a Hard Place The fate of Australia's Dampier Rock Ar t Site

hangs in the balance

Saving Segovia's Aqueduct Politics are set aside to preserve a Spanish landmark

D E P A R T M E N T S

I'Voin llie Presiden I

From the Editor

Inside WMF

Preserva! ion News

The Ail of Preservation

WMF Insider's Guide

Ex Libris

Expedition: Croatia

O N T H E C O V E R El infierno (Hell) as depicted in a mural painted

by Tadeo Escalante in 1802 within the Church of San Juan Bautista, Huaro, Peru. Photo by Ruperto Márquez

World Monuments ICON (ISSN 1539-4190) is published quarterly by the World Monuments Fund®, 95 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016, tel +1 646-424-9594, fa postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices. Subscriptions: one year, $1795; two years, $32,95; Single numbers, $4.95- Foreign orders, add $5.00 per year ICON as a benefit of membership. Manuscripts, books for review, and advertising inquiries should be sent to the Editor, World Monuments ICON, 95 Madison Avem review. We are not responsible for unsolicited material. All rights reserved. © 2007 World Monuments Fund

I C O N

+1 646-424-9593, e-mail icon@wmf.org. Periodicals Supporters of the World Monuments Fund receive le, New York, NY 10016. All manuscripts subject to

f * printed on recycled paper

O F THE W O R L D M O N U M E N T S F U N D

Power of Community Pride HARNESSING LOCAL SUPPORT FOR PRESERVATION MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE

Anumber of articles in this issue reveal fierce community

emotions coming to play in relation to landmarks that are

locally important but have nevertheless come to the brink

of loss. In each case, WMF's efforts have been decisive in

bringing them into wider recognition. A community in high­

land Peru, once prone to deface murals within its church because of

their colonialist content, has now adopted these brilliant, if terrifying,

images as a motif for a new local crafts industry, and found an unforeseen

economic resource. Aboriginals in Australia, outraged at the thought that

prehistoric drawings made by their ancestors would be sliced off their

rock supports, have finally spoken out against their desecration after

years of silence. Local and national authorities in Spain are joining

forces to counter the deterioration and prior botched treatment of the

famed Roman aqueduct in Segovia. And in London, heritage officials are

accused of being duped into supporting a redevelopment plan for the

Battersea Power Station, which may at best have been a temporizing scheme that allowed the

property developer to walk away from the site with a huge profit resulting from its enhanced real

estate value having made no investment in the site's conservation.

Awakening local pride is a powerful force that preservationists can harness to save important

structures. In communities previously unaware of the value of their monuments, indifference can

be converted to pride when they realize that the outside world admires and cares about their

local landmarks.

The renovation of the small concert hall that is part of St. George's Hall in Liverpool is a particu­

larly impressive story. W M F first became aware of the building and its importance in 1990, when

the Prince of Wales—upon receipt of the WMF's prestigious Hadrian Award—asked our organization

to help preserve this building before any other in England. At that time, it seemed an impossible

task. A neoclassical marvel, the enormous building was considered a white elephant in the heart of

a declining section of the city's downtown. The renovation cost—some £23 million—seemed out of

range when proposals for reuse projected only the most modest revenue. But the city's cultural

officials, who believed in the project and in the city's importance, were able to make their case to

Prince Charles—and hence to WMF.

And next year, when Liverpool is declared Europe's cultural capital, the rededication of the

wonderful concert hall will mark WMF's small but important gesture toward making what once

seemed an unimaginable vision a reality.

No building is so large that it cannot be saved through the force of local confidence and impera­

tive, and no degree of neglect is so great that we should turn our backs on the buildings that have

been and can again be symbols of local pride. They can become symbols of local growth, as the

cases around the world in this issue illustrate.

CELEBRATIONS IN FRONT OF SAN JUAN

BAUTISTA IN HUARO, PERU, MARK THE

COMPLETION OF THE RESTORATION

OF THE CHURCH'S EXTRAORDINARY

MURALS, PAINTED AT THE DAWN OF

THE NINETEENTH CENTURY.

)C)o^^*^&- V A A ^ GLW\

Bonnie Burnham

PRESIDENT

• I C O N - WINTER. 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7

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Keep i i í̂ 'Score on the Preservation Front

With more than lOO active

projects in its current oper­

ating portfolio, W M F could

easily rest on its laurels,

proud of the extraordinary progress that

is being made to save world treasures

such as Angkor in Cambodia, the Lodge

of Retirement in China's Forbidden City,

Catherine the Great's Chinese Palace at

Oranienbaum in Russia, and monuments

of pharaonic age on the West Bank of the

Nile in Egypt. Yet the organization rarely

finds itself engaged in acts of self adula­

tion, but rather in an unrelenting dialog

with partners around the globe to rescue

sites that may soon be lost to war, natural

disaster, or redevelopment.

This issue we highlight two such sites—

the Dampier Rock Art Site on the northwest coast of Australia (see page 34), a portion of which has

already yielded to industrial development, and London's iconic Battersea Power Station (see page

24), which may soon face partial if not complete demolition. We have also taken the opportunity to

update you on WMF's continuing efforts to enhance the capacity of Iraq's antiquities staff to care

for what is left of their country's cultural patrimony once hostilities cease.

While our gains over the past four decades clearly outnumber our losses, W M F will only rest

easy when all of the sites in our purview are well out of danger.

This issue, we have introduced a new column, the Art of Preservation, penned by ICON contribut­

ing editor Eve M. Kahn. Each issue she will be examining some of the innovative new technologies

that are entering the preservation toolkit and the pioneering minds behind them. As each new

development comes on line, conservators will be better able to assess a site's condition and find

appropriate treatment.

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THE FUTURE OF LONDON'S ICONIC BATTERSEA POWER STATION,

A 2 0 0 6 WMF WATCH SITE, REMAINS UNCERTAIN.

Angela M.H. Schuster

EDITOR

Contributors VICTORIA LAURIE, a senior writer for The

Australian, covers heritage issues for the

newspaper's Western Australian bureau.

A graduate in the History of Art from Bristol

University, KATHERINE BOYLE is a projects

assistant for W M F in Britain.

JEREMÍAS GAMBOA, a writer and art

critic contributes to the Peruvian magazines

Debate and Somos, and is the chief press

officer for the country's National Institute of

Culture. RUPERTO MÁRQUEZ is a Cuzco-

based photographer who has worked

extensively for National Institute of Culture.

EDITOR

Angela M.H. Schuster

ART DIRECTOR

Ken Felsel

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Col in Amery

Norma Barbacci

Michel le Berenfe ld

Will Black Morr is Hy l ton III

Eve M. Kahn

Leila Hadley Luce

Hol ly M a c C a m m o n

Henry Tzu Ng

John Julius, Viscount Norw ich

Gaetano Palumbo

Eric Powell

And rew Solomon

Gavin Stamp

An thony M. Tung

Mark Weber

W O R L D M O N U M E N T S F U N D

BOARD O F TRUSTEES

HONORARY CHAIRMAN

John Julius, Viscount Norw ich

OFFICERS

Dr. Mar i lyn Perry, Cha i rman

The Honorab le Ronald S. Lauder,

Vice Cha i rman

H. Peter Stern, Vice Cha i rman

Robert W . W i l s o n ,

Vice Cha i rman and Treasurer

Robert J. Geniesse,

Secretary & Genera l Counse l

PRESIDENT

Bonnie Burnham

TRUSTEES

Prince Amyn Aga Khan

Paul Beirne

Brook Ber l ind

Kevin R. Br ine

The Honorab le W.L. Lyons Brown

Peter W. Davidson

Mica Ertegun

Ashton Hawkins

Rober to Hernández Ramírez

Peter K immelman

Nina Joukowsky Kóprülü

Steven Kossak

Dr. Lois de Mén i l

Samuel C. Mi l ler

Chr i s topher O h r s t r o m

Sharon Patr ick

Bernard Selz

Peter M.F. Sichel

A n d r e w So lomon

Peter S to rmon th Darl ing

Nicholas Thaw

WMI OIU, I C O N

1P fcl IA A7ITL-1

P R O J E C T C O M P L E T E D

The Rebirth of Chamba Lhakhang: A Himalayan Jewel in Ladakh

Apuja, or ceremony of devotion, was held on October 4,

heralding the completion of the restoration of one of

Ladakh's most important Buddhist temples, the Chamba

Lhakhang, built between 1445 and 1550 within the fortif ied

monastery at Basgo and included on WMF's 2000 list of IOO

Most Endangered Sites (see ICON Summer 2006). Within the

Chamba Lhakhang is an extraordinary mural cycle painted

during the late sixteenth-century reign of King Tsewang Namgyal,

which depicts manifestations of the Buddha, important deities

and rinpoches, or Buddhist teachers, as well as scenes from the

life of king and his court. Until recently, however, the Chamba

Lhakhang was in an advanced state of decay with a failing roof,

structural cracks, crumbling mud plaster, and delaminating

murals—damage wrought in large part by the erosion of the hill

upon which the temple was built. Shortly after Watch listing,

WMF's corporate sponsor American Express stepped forward

with a grant to underwrite emergency repairs. Funds for a full

restoration of the sanctuary were later complemented by

W M F through its Robert W Wilson Challenge to Conserve

Our Heritage. - A M H S

M 4ws

ii THE GEORGIAN

I GROUP

W M F C I T E D F O R E X C E L L E N C E I N P R E S E R V A T I O N

Prize for St. George's, Bloomsbury

The restoration of Nicholas Hawksmoor's London

masterpiece, St. George's, Bloomsbury, has been scooping

up accolades from the preservation community recently.

In early November, the church accepted the Georgian Group's

2006 Architectural Award for Restoration of a Georgian

Church and later that month, sculptor Tim Crawley was

presented with a Natural Stone Award for his execution of the

lions and unicorns that now encircle the base of the church's

steeple. The $15.6 million restoration of St. George's, which

began shortly after the sanctuary appeared on WMF's 2002 list

of 100 Most Endangered Sites, has been underwritten in large

part by the Estate of Paul Mellon, WMF through its Robert

W. Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage, and Britain's

Heritage Lottery Fund.

2 0 0 4 W A T C H S I T E R E S T O R A T I O N H I G H L I G H T E D

Shaxi Village Subject of Swiss Exhibition

For nearly a decade, Shaxi, a rare and wonderful Ming

Dynasty (1368-I644) market town located in Jianchuan

County in the Himalayan foothills, has been the subject of

an extraordinary restoration campaign carried out by a Swiss-

Chinese conservation team with support from W M F through

its Robert W.

Wilson Challenge

to Conserve Our

Heritage (see ICON,

Summer 2004).

Now, an exhibition

chronicling the

rehabilitation of

the town—which

served as a critical

waystation on

the tea and horse

caravan trail from

Yunnan to Tibet

for more than

two centuries—is

on view at the

Kornhausforum in

Bern, Switzerland,

through March 5.

For information on the exhibition contact Jacques Feiner, project

manager for the Shaxi Rehabilitation project, at feiner@nsl.ethz.

ch or visit the project website at www.nsl.ethz.ch:l6o8o/irl/shaxi/

index.htm

• I C O N - W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7

U P C O M I N G L E C T U R E S E R I E S

WORLD MONUMENTS Touchstones of Past and Present

p resen ted by

W O R L D M O N U M E N T S F U N D

and

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Great monuments endure because they embody

the quintessential political, cultural, and historical

fabric of their times. In this annual series presented

by the World Monuments Fund in cooperation with

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, experts discuss the

meaning of ¡conic touchstones within their cultural

context and today's efforts to ensure their survival.

Tuesday, April 24 • 8-.00 P.M.

Building with History: How the Old and the New

Can Co-exist In the Modern World

Norman Foster is Senior Partner and Chairman of Foster

+ Partners, a leading architecture firm in the United Kingdom.

Tuesday, May 1 • 8:00 P.M.

The Architecture of Happiness: How our Surroundings

Affect Our Emotional Well-Being

Alain de Botton is the author of eight books, including

The Architecture of Happiness, and a regular contributor

to National Public Radio and The New York Times.

WORLD MONUMENTS FUND

MEMBER TRIP TO

CHINA October 20-31, 2007

ft

»•*

Tuesday, May 8 • 8:00 P.M.

Saving Venice: The Challenges of Preserving

One of the World's Most Treasured Cities

John Julius Norwich, author of numerous books, including

the recently released The Middte Sea.- A History of the

Mediterranean, is one of the world's foremost authorities on

Venice and Honorary Chairman of WMF.

THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART

Fifth Avenue at 82nd Street, New York City

$60 for the series of three lectures, $22 for single tickets.

To order tickets call the Met Box Office at 212-570-3949;

Monday through Saturday, 9:30 A.M.-5:00 P.M.

Visit www.wmf.org for additional information.

4^S£f-Ancient, Imperial

and Modern China An Exploration of China's Cultural

Heritage Across the Millennia

This eleven-day tr ip to Beijing, Xi'an, Hangzhou and

Shanghai will visit some of the country's most

significant historical sites and explore the

challenges confronting China's great cultural

heritage, including WMF-only access to closed

areas of the Forbidden City.

Visit www.wmf.org or call 646-424-9594» ext. 247,

for more information.

WMI.ORG I C O N '

P R E S E R V A T I O N

iTT

Mi S H O W C A S I N G C R A F T S M A N S H I P

Masterpieces in Miniature Take New York

ade to Scale: Staircase Masterpieces—The Eugene & Clare

Thaw Gift," the first museum exhibition in the United States

.focused on an extraordinary collection of staircase models and the

largest known holdingof these works outside of France, is now on view at the Coo­

per-Hewitt National Design Museum in New York. A majority of the staircase models

are from nineteenth-century France and were produced by craftsmen working in the

meritocratic system known as compagnonnage. The staircase models represent

exercises in technical virtuosity used by apprentices to demonstrate

their knowledge of cantilevering, balance, forms of rotation, styles

of balusters, and other architectural details. In their combination of

design and structural, architectural, and cabinetry skills, the staircase

models and accompanying drawings demonstrate the relationship

between formal training, modeling, and technical mastery. More

I than two dozen staircase models, a selection of technical

L elevation drawings, and related illustrated instructional

H manuals will be on view through June 3, 2007.

*

A D A P T I V E R E U S E S C H E M E

A l.OOO-Year-Old Hospital in Siena Becomes a New Museum

Founded in the ninth century in the

heart of Siena, Italy, Santa Maria della

Scala was one of the first hospitals in

Europe, dedicated to caring for pilgrims,

assisting the poor, and providing for aban­

doned chi ldren. The enormous hospi­

tal complex houses a number of fresco

cycles painted between the thirteenth and

eighteenth centuries, which are currently

under restoration. Having fallen out of

use as a healthcare facility, the building is

undergoing a dramatic rebirth—its under­

ground chambers have been converted

into an archaeological museum while

newly rehabilitated upper levels are now

being used to showcase modern works

of art. For more information, see www.

santamariadellascala.com

U N C O N T R O L L E D D E V E L O P M E N T

The Specter of a Soaring Spire Looms over St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, Russia—a city whose

architectural harmony has long been

ensured thanks to a ruling that no

building may be constructed over 24

meters—may lose its unique character if

plans go forward for the proposed new

office for Gazprom, the country's lead­

ing gas supplier. The winning proposal by

British architects RMJM for "Gazprom-

City," the energy giant's new head office

on the banks of the Neva River, calls for

a 306-meter-high tower, which is to stand

opposite Bartolomeo Rastrelli's mid-eigh­

teenth-century Smolny Cathedral, one of

the city's major architectural landmarks.

Norman Foster, Kisho Kurokawa, and

Rafael Vinoly walked off the jury that chose

the RMJM design. Kurokawa stated his rea­

sons for leaving the jury were his objections

to all six of the short-listed projects and

their height because he believes St. Peters­

burg should preserve its low-rise cityscape,

a view shared by Mikhial Piotrovsky, Direc­

tor of the State Hermitage and Alexander

Margolis, head of the Fund for Saving St.

Petersburg, as well as a majority of resi­

dents who have voted against the Gazprom

proposals. Some have noted that construc­

tion of this tower will contradict the "Saint-

Petersburg Strategy for Cultural Heritage

Preservation" and threaten the city's World

Heritage status. Recently, UNESCO voiced

its concerns over the project and its impact

on the historic fabric of the city, where

W M F has carried out a number of impor­

tant restorations in recent years, including

the late eighteenth-century Alexander Pal­

ace (see ICON Spring 2003).

While no objection need be brought

against a new building for the city in prin­

ciple, its main attraction is its unbroken his­

toric skyline, and to date most new build­

ings in the center have at least respected

this. Moreover, the outskirts of the city

are rich with potential locations for such

visionary new buildings.

Unfortunately, this battle is not a new

one, having confronted many historic cit­

ies in recent years.

ICON- WINTER 2006 /2007

M O N U M E N T A L R E S C U E

Saving Mont-Saint-Michel

The mud flats that isolate

Mont-Saint-Michel f rom

the French coast have

protected the granite fortress-

monastery from invaders for

a millennium. But tourists and

environmental degradation in

recent years have threatened

to practically land-lock the

site. A nearby river dam has

slowed currents into the bay

and caused silt buildup, and

in summer, cars and buses

overwhelm the narrow paved

causeway. The French govern­

ment has been researching

solutions to the problems for

a decade, and last summer it

began implementing a €165 million land­

scape overhaul.

A new dam, under construction on the

Couesnon river, will have sluices that can

be opened to flush silt away from the mon­

astery. Eight kilometers of riverbed will

be deepened, and some five million cubic

meters of limestone-sand sediment dug

out—the government will donate the dirt to

local landowners for fertilizer and landfill.

The causeway will be razed and replaced

with an oak-floored footbridge on metal

stilts. Cars (except for emergen­

cy vehicles) will not be allowed

to approach the island; on the

mainland, new grassy parking

lots will be shaded by poplar

and oak trees and surrounded

by restored salt marshes.

Funding for the six-year

effort has come from state and

local governments as well as

the EU. "Our project budget

is not huge, certainly not com­

pared to the € 8 0 0 million that

will be spent on Versailles, but

we have to protect this idyl­

lic view," notes Claire Monté-

mont, a spokesperson for the

Projet Mont-Saint-Michel, an

umbrella group of government agencies.

The remote monastery, she adds, attracts

3.2 million visitors a year, more than any

other French destination except Paris. For

construct ion updates, see www.projet-

montsaintmichel.fr. - E V E M. KAHN

M O N U M E N T A L M A K E O V E R

Britain's Famed Canterbury Cathedral Slated for Restoration

Canterbury cathedral is falling down,"

The Guardian pess im is t i ca l l y

announced last fall, but the ca. A.D.

IIOO church's prognosis is not quite so dire.

"There have been good stewards here, but

sections of the building are getting very

near the ends of their lifespans," explains

Brigadier David Innes, the cathedral's chief

executive of development. "And we're

coping with the wear and tear of over a

million visitors a year." He's now orches­

trating a £50 million fundraising campaign

to stabilize, repair, and clean the elabo­

rately carved stone skin and trio of towers,

wood-framed lead roofing, and a stained-

glass collection that includes the world's

oldest glazed oculus window (it depicts

Moses ringed by prophets).

About £6 million has been raised, and

work has already begun on one transept

and a domed rear chapel built as a shrine

to Thomas Beckett (who was assassinated

at Canterbury in II70).

The bu i l d i ng , Innes

reports, "wil l be scaf­

folded in sections, never

completely covered, and

never closed to the pub­

lic. We'll be jacking up

the roof piece by piece,

replacing rotted parts of

the wood frame, and

smelting down the lead

to re-cast new plates." In-

house masonry and

stained-glass restorers

will re-carve eroded trac­

ery or buttresses and

cleanse windowpanes with daubs of moist

cotton balls.

The World Monuments Fund in Britain

plans to help the cathedral attract inter­

national donations over the next few years.

(American benefactors can already give

through www.canterbury-cathedral.org.)

"It's such an important building, we'll be

keeping a close eye on it, and assisting

them however we can," says Katherine

Boyle, projects assistant for the W M F

in Britain. - E V E M . K A H N

W M F . O R G • [ ( O N •

, í * * u

SECURING Á FUTURE

FOR IRAQ'S BELEAGUERED

HERITAGE It has been three years

since W M F and the Getty Conservation Institute launched

a joint initiative to enhance the capacity of Iraq's heritage professionals to salvage their sites in the wake of war. With

no end to the violence in sight, W M F and GCI remain

committed to their cause.

by N E V I L L E A G N E W , D A V I D M Y E R S , and G A E T A N O P A L U M B O

gly things happen in war. In the midst of the nightmare

of violence that is Iraq, other tragedies are continu­

ing—ones that are largely unknown to the general

public. Destruction of archaeological and cultural

sites, of monuments and antiquities is continuing at a

furious pace. Weighed in the balance against the toll

of death that is visited daily on the people of Iraq, does this matter

much? Should it matter? Between oil and antiquities, Iraq's two

vast underground resources, it's the antiquities that presumably

provide some benefit to poor, otherwise destitute people. Even

some archaeologists have publicly stated—as at the Fifth World

Archaeological Congress in June 2003—that digging their own

past for sale is a right of the poor, though it's widely acknowledged

that those who do the digging may receive a pittance. Let us not

blame the looters; their trade is after all ancient. Think of the

pharaonic tombs—King Tut's was one of the very few lucky ones to

have survived their attentions—and looting is active today in many

countries, even wealthy, developed ones like Italy.

So, can anything be done to limit looting in Iraq? The answer,

obviously, is not much in present times when, it is reported, many

of the State Board of Antiquities and Heritage (SBAH) professional

staff work half-time or less, with meager resources, unlike the loot­

ing gangs who are well-equipped and armed.

Looting apart, threats to the archaeological resources of Iraq

also come from the lack of maintenance and conservation of these

sites, an impossible task in the present circumstances, given security

operations that involve earth-moving equipment, uncontrolled con­

struction, and future development projects that will certainly affect

the landscape of the country once security improves.

Today, as the agony of Iraq continues to unfold and deepen,

the preservation of cultural heritage may seem a lost cause. Only

recently, the chairman of the SBAH, Donny George, fled to Damas­

cus, fearing for the safety of his family. Furthermore, professionals

10 • I C O N - W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7

around the world have expressed concern about the fate of pre-

Islamic sites, which have been rumored to be of little interest to

the new heritage leadership. In this context, it would seem less and

less likely that the Getty Conservation Institute-WMF Iraq initiative

could actually be able to work in the country in safety.

So what is to be the fate of this effort? How should GCI and the

WMF respond to a situation that seemingly has slid into hopeless­

ness? Should our organizations declare the effort a lost cause and

our investment in training the Iraqis and development of a national

database/GIS (Geographic Information System) of archaeological

sites and monuments a write off?

These were among the questions our organizations discussed

in November 2006, at a meeting in New York. As it turned out,

the questions were rhetorical—there was unanimity in the deci­

sion to continue the commitment to Iraq. For despite the bleak

circumstances, we realized that there was still a lot we could do

given the resources we had already gathered.

FACING PAGE, INSTRUCTORS AND SBAH STAFF DISCUSS THE DOCUMENTATION

OF HISTORIC HOUSES IN THE OLD CITY OF SALT, JORDAN; BELOW, WILLIAM

BLAKE, OF THE ENGLISH HERITAGE METRIC SURVEY TEAM, INSTRUCTS SBAH

SURVEYORS IN THE USE OF A NEW TOTAL STATION PROVIDED BY THE PROJECT.

First—and of critical importance—we still had the promised sup­

port of the Jordan's Department of Antiquities, which since the

beginning of the project has unstintingly provided assistance in

training courses for Iraqis undertaken in Amman. This will continue

through 2007, but with greater participation planned from the

Jordanians, who have offered the services of their department's

staff to teach some of the courses for the SBAH staff, while hav­

ing their own staff attend some workshops as trainees. In other

words, the Jordanian Department of Antiquities will be partner­

ing with G C I / W M F to both support training courses, and benefit

from them.

Second, the national database/GIS of archaeological sites

and monuments under development for Iraq is planned to be

reconfigured as a web-based system, since for the time being,

locating the system in Baghdad is out of the question. A custom­

ized and enhanced version of the database/GIS will be developed

for Jordan as well, which will replace the existing JADIS (Jordan

Archaeological Database Information System) database. Over time,

archaeological site data for the whole region will be migrated over

to the new system.

Third, the new chairman of the SBAH, Abbas al-Hussainy, is

now working with GCI and W M F to draft a new memorandum of

understanding. He has declared that his priorities are staff training

and the protection of sites through the deployment of a special

police force and, with better security in place, to survey and docu­

ment areas and start compiling a comprehensive archaeological

map of Iraq. In addition, W M F and the SBAH have embarked on

the development of a management plan for the protection of the

ancient site of Babylon, which is to be put in place when conditions

permit. The site was adversely impacted by excessive development

and restorations under the previous regime, and by the Polish and

American military base on the site between 2003 and 2005.

These developments provide exciting opportunit ies to not

only maintain momentum in the Iraq initiative, but to expand our

collaborative efforts with Jordan. When the dire situation in Iraq

finally stabilizes, we will be poised to provide more direct and

hands-on assistance. The database/GIS when deployed will be an

essential tool for mapping the location and recording the condition

of archaeological and other heritage sites. In the case of looted

sites, the system will at least enable a new benchmark of condi­

tions to be established.

In the three years since the G C I / W M F launched its Iraq initia­

tive, good progress has been made. Relationships have developed

through personal interaction with the dedicated SBAH staff, many

of whom are deeply appreciative of our efforts, having been iso­

lated for decades without recognition or resources. The initiative

has also been fortunate, not only in its partnership with Jordanian

authorities, but in its training consultants as well, several of whom

are expatriate Iraqis, living in Amman, Canada, and the Nether­

lands. UNESCO, too, has consistently supported the work of the

initiative, and has indicated a commitment to continue doing so

through the Amman office. We have every hope, therefore, of

ultimate success in bringing Iraqi heritage professionals back into

the international mainstream, and remain committed to providing

the training and tools that will eventually be needed. The GCI and

the WMF are doing this despite the bleak situation in Iraq because

we resolutely believe it is the right thing to do. •

escribed by the architectural historian Sir Nikolaus

Pevsner as the greatest neoclassical building in the

world, St. George's Hall in Liverpool, England, had

been a source of civic pride since its construction

in the mid-nineteenth century, housing the city's

law courts, along with a town hall and concert

room. Yet, by the close of the twent ieth century, it had fallen

into decay, a process that accelerated following a moving of the

law courts to an alternative venue in 1984.

Upon receiving WMF's Hadrian Award in 1990, HRH Prince of

Wales drew attention to the plight of the building in his accep­

tance speech, in which he outl ined an ambitious plan for the

complete overhaul of the hall, which would cost an estimated £23

million. In doing so, the prince hoped to enlist WMF's support for

the project.

St George's Hall, Liverpool

At that time, funding such as restoration seemed far beyond

the means of the organization. Nonetheless, W M F pledged its

support, choosing the Small Concert Room as a focus for its

fundraising efforts and their first British project. W M F in Britain

was instrumental in raising funds for the project, while $500,000

from the Robert W Wilson Challenge to Conserve Our Heritage

encouraged more than £200,000 in matching funds donated by

trustees of the St. George's Hall Charitable Trust. Many other dona­

tions from trusts and foundations were received through W M F in

Britain, including £150,000 from the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation,

and grants from the Hemby Trust, BBC Radio Merseyside, The Holt

Trust, Aon Company, and PKE Lighting among others. These in

turn were substantially augmented by support from the Heritage

Lottery Fund and the Liverpool City Council.

Built at a time of mercantile prosperity in Britain, St George's

Hall was designed by Harvey Lonsdale Elmes (1814-1847) who

was appointed architect in 1840 following his winning of a

design competit ion for the hall. In 1841 the foundations were

laid and exterior walls began to rise. Unfortunately, Elmes died

in 1847 when the building was only half finished. The Town

Surveyor continued building until 1851, when Charles Robert

Cockerell (1788-1863) was appointed architect and charged

with completing the construction. The Law Courts opened in

1851, fol lowed by the Great Hall in 1854, and in 1855 the Small

Concert Room and the rest of the building were completed.

Construction of the entire building cost £300,000 .

In designing the Small Concert Room, Elmes took his cues

from the Calidarium of the Baths of Caracalla in Rome, while

AFTER A DECADE OF

RESTORATION,

A NEOCLASSICAL

ICON WILL SHINE

AGAIN AS THE CITY

MARKS ITS 800TH

ANNIVERSARY

THIS SPRING.

by KATHERINE BOYLE

WINTER 2006/2007

WMMjfjiiiuii >»*•*• ' •"«» i VIVIY, T.».».».».».r.» i ttt,¡Y,

•AWÁV«ÁAW»:MA«yy^y//,v']i *:t>Wt'»'»»»»»»'»>."t'<*'»'(yi l i S S t l i l liiffiÉ^sí^íis •;••••• p¡^P**S2

OPENING SPREAD: THE ORIGINAL

COLOR SCHEME OF THE CONCERT

HALL HAS BEEN RESTORED AND ITS

DAZZLING CHANDELIER IS NOW BACK

IN PLACE, FOLLOWING MAJOR REPAIRS,

THIS PAGE TOP. ABOVE, THE BRIGHTER

COLORS WHICH WERE USED TO

REPAINT THE CONCERT HALL DURING

AN EARLIER RESTORATION. THE

NORTH ENTRANCE HALL, TOP RIGHT,

FOLLOWING REFURBISHMENT.

Cockerell was responsible for the interior decoration. Described as the most beautiful interior of

the Early Victorian period, it is the finest interior of Cockerell's career. The concert room, which

measures 22 by 24 meters, can seat 1,100 people and accommodate an orchestra of 60. With its

excellent acoustics, it is considered one of the choice concert rooms in Europe. The Liverpool

Culture Company and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra are discussing ways to ensure

the successful long-term future of the space.

The architects Purcell Miller Tritton carried out the extensive refurbishment of the space

necessary to bring the structure up to code. Prior to restoration, people with impaired mobil ity

had no access to the upper floors of the concert room. Work began with the re-levelling of exterior

paving to overcome stepped access, and new ramps and handrails were installed. The original

bench seating had been replaced with theater t ip-up seats during the 1940s, which had become

W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7

worn and dilapidated. These have been repaired, and new loose

seating has also been designed—modern-style chairs covered in

the same fabric as the fixed seats. These can be loaded onto

trolleys and stored away when not in use. Air condit ioning and

cabling for audio visual equipment have also been installed.

During historical research into the decorative scheme, Jane

Davies Conservation discovered that the room has been re­

decorated on at least four, if not five, different occasions—the

last in the 1980s—and altered considerably from Cockerell's

original design. Alterations to the scheme had introduced a blue

paint in the ceiling panels, which was brighter and "less green"

than the original color, while the off-white used for picking out

the ornamentation had been replaced with a stark white.

Among the highlights of the project was the restoration of the

chandelier, which weighs more than 750 kilograms. Created by

the glass firm Osier of Birmingham, the chandelier was in poor

condit ion and had been crudely converted to electrical power.

After a generous grant from Swarovski Crystal, it was carefully

dismantled and transported to the Wilkinson glass workshop

in London, where all the parts were sorted and repaired, and

new glass was cut as appropriate. The crude electrical wiring

was removed and replaced with a low-voltage scheme based on

the arrangement of the earlier gas jets. Now back in its original

position, the chandelier's 2,824 crystal pieces are gli t tering once

more and provide a beautiful focal point for the room.

As Liverpool celebrates its 800 th birthday, events and

ceremonies to commemorate the completion of the project are

planned for April 23rd—St. George's Day. This civic icon has been

restored in time for the city to claim its tit le of the European

Capital of Culture 2008. Moreover, the project is spurring further

regeneration of the area known as the Cultural Quarter, which is

expected to see an investment of £120 million by 2009. •

THE CLASSICAL GRANDEUR OF ST.

GEORGE'S HALL. BELOW, OUTSIDE

AND IN, HAS MADE IT A LIVERPOOL

LANDMARK. LEFT, A PAINTER

RESTORES THE HALL'S CEILING

PANELS TO THEIR ORIGINAL COLORS.

~"he year was 1973 and art historian Pablo Macera

had heard from an artisan, Hilario Mendívil,

about the existence of extraordinary mural

paintings within a suite of churches south of

the ancient Inca capital of Cuzco. Following

up on the tip, he embarked on a journey to

see them first hand. So impressed was Macera

by what he saw that on his return to Lima he

implored his fr iend, book publisher Carlos

Milla Batres, to join him on another visit to

explore the possibility of publishing a book on these fantastic but

little known works of Andean colonial art.

Of his visit to the first of the churches, in the town of Andahuay-

lillas, Milla would later write in the prologue to La pintura mural

andina siglos XVI-XIX (Andean Mural Painting from the Sixteenth

through the Nineteenth Centuries), "I could not shake off the sense

of awe that took hold of me while contemplating these astounding

works of art.... We hadn't even gone through half of the church,

yet we were spellbound. My friend Macera said to me with that

inimitable smile of his: What do you think of all this? I didn't really

know how to answer. I said, Pablo, I swear to you on my honor that

VISIONS OF HEAVEN AND HELL RESTORING AN EXTRAORDINARY

MURAL CYCLE IN THE PERUVIAN ANDES

by JEREMÍAS GAMBOA

photography by RUPERTO MÁRQUEZ

I will create a great book about these extraordinary murals. He responded. But, you have yet to see

Huaro...." Of his visit there, Milla wrote, "I was gripped with emotion, unable to find words to express

my great sense of wonder."

Despite the importance of the murals and Millas seminal publication on these works of art—execut­

ed in large part by the Mestizo painter Tadeo Escalante at the dawn of the nineteenth century—they

would remain largely unknown to the outside world. That is until now. Today, the main doors of the

Church of San Juan Bautista at Huaro, some 40 kilometers south of Cuzco, open quite effortlessly,

revealing a stunning artistic program, recently restored through the efforts of the World Monuments

Fund and Peru's National Institute of Culture (INC).

It is a sunny July afternoon and I have come to see for myself what so impressed Milla and Macera

11. I C O N WINTER 2006 /2007

more than three decades ago. As I enter the sanctuary, restorers from the INC in Cuzco have moved

all the sculptures in the sanctuary and opened all the windows and doors so that we could get a clear

view of this artistic miracle—1,371 square meters of mural painted by various artists, including Escalante.

"We launched this program in 2004," says Ada Estrada, coordinator of the restoration work for the

Huaro project. Eight skilled technicians, who have spent the past two years working by her side each

day from 7:00 in the morning until 2:45 in the afternoon, smiled with satisfaction. "The work on the

murals and altarpieces has been completed. We will now be focusing on sculptures and paintings for

the next year."

Walking through this church is like embarking on a voyage through the minds of the people who

inhabited the Andean region in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Upon merely entering the

A DETAIL OF EL INFIERNO (HELL)

THAT GRACES THE SANCTUARY

OF SAN JUAN BAUTISTA IN

HUARO, PERU. NOTE THE

PRESENCE OF ECCLESIASTICAL

AUTHORITIES ALONG WITH THE

SINNERS IN THE CAULDRON.

W M F . O R G • I C O N • I,

A CONSERVATOR CAREFULLY CONSOLIDATES

A RENDERING OF THE DEVIL WITHIN THE

SCENE DEPICTING HELL.

main door one is immediately enveloped by six magnificent paint­

ings, which together form one of the most original and emotionally

haunting creations in New World colonial painting. In this group,

Tadeo Escalante—who also recorded on these walls the date this

masterwork was finished, l802—creates a truly apocalyptic vision

starkly contrasting with the section depicting La Gloria (Ascension)

in which saints, angels, and devout figures, including the painter

himself, are seen floating toward heaven accompanied by God.

The other sections of the mural depict a far more ominous vision

marked by death and darkness. In El árbol de la vida (The Tree of

Life), Las dos muertes (The Two Deaths) and Las postrimerías (The

End of Times), the image of the skull reigns supreme over a series

of scenes culminating with the magnificent El Infierno (Hell). Here, a

group of contorted Hieronymus Bosch-like figures writhe in agony

among the cauldrons and other tortures of hell's abyss.

"I see these paintings as an attempt by their creators to serve

specific didactic or catechistic purposes," emphasizes José Alfonso

Baigorri, a Spanish priest who has ministered at the Huaro church

since March 2006. "I often use these works to illustrate certain

commentaries during my own sermons."

The possible catechistic applications of the Huaro images

seem nearly infinite. The entire nave of the church is lavishly

decorated with monumental altarpieces depicting various saints.

Representations of courtly life, caryatids and ornamental motifs,

images of the church fathers and the life of the Virgin soar above

our heads, finally fusing with animal motifs, coats of arms from

unimaginable countries, as well as fruits and flowers, which extend

to the very arches of the sanctuary. All of these details are ren­

dered in the most astonishingly vivid colors. Incredibly, we are left

Tadeo Escalante

THE MYSTERIOUS WORLD OF Á MESTIZO PAINTER

eated in a café on the Plaza de Armas in Cuzco,

historian Jorge Flores Ochoa ended our interview

saying, "Tadeo Escalante is a character in search

of a biographer." Born in this city, Flores Ochoa is

the joint author, with Elizabeth Kuon and Roberto

Samanez, of Pintura mural en el sur andino [Mural

Painting in the Andean South], one of the most

important books on Peruvian Colonial art. He believes that

the most significant work on _ _ - , — ^ _ _ ^ _ _ _ _ _ .

the Mestizo painter remains to

be done: "The t ruth is that we

know very little about him, in

spite of how much he painted:

the entire Church of Huaro,

two mills, a church that looks

more like a bakery, and possibly

two interiors of the churches in

Papres and Corma."

So what do we know about

this character who for countless

years decorated walls, friezes,

and the most remote recesses

of the ceiling in the Church of

Huaro? In fact, not much. That

he was born in Acomayo, Cuzco, possibly in 1770 and that he

died perhaps in 1840. That he was apparently Mestizo, a de-

scendent of the clan or family of the Inca Atahualpa. The im­

ages the painter left of himself also add to the elusiveness of

his profile. Each one shows him in a different way: as a Spanish

eighteenth-century knight with an emblem of the Acomayo Mil l ,

as an Indian in Bethlehem Chapel, and finally as a seraphic fig­

ure at Huaro, among a group of saints ascending to heaven.

Escalante's work is spread around Cuzco and the southern

villages of Acomayo and Corma. At the Convent of Santa Cata­

lina in the city center, part of what is now a busy museum, there

is a chapel open to the public that is completely decorated with

a mural painting attr ibuted to Tadeo Escalante. "I don't know if

this is Escalante's work," says Flores Ochoa. "I believe we have

not reached that level of certainty. The style is rather different.

Also, the work at Santa Catalina is very Catholic. What we have

here are religious scenes." A response of this kind stirs up a

number of questions: "Couldn't the message of the paintings at

Huaro be considered Catholic? Isn't it possible that Escalante

painted Santa Catalina with some intentions and Huaro with

others? What are these "anti-Catholic" messages in the paint­

ings at Huaro? Was Escalante irreverent?

18 W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7

N

Á RENDERING OF ST. CHRISTOPHER GRACES THE FACADE OF

THE SO-CALLED MOLINO DE LOS INCAS, FACING PAGE, WHILE A

SCENE DEPICTING THE TREE OF LIFE ADORNS THE INTERIOR.

In the Peruvian classic Buscando un inca-, identidad y utopia

en los Andes (In search of an Inca: Identity and Utopia in the An­

des), the historian Alberto Flores Galindo analyzes the work at

Huaro. His study is based on the revolutionary dreams of rebel

leaders such as Gabriel Aguilar, whose revolt was put down

three years after work on the church was completed, in 1805.

To Flores Galindo, the paintings in the space below the choir

are subversive. Images in which death appears to be dominant,

in which we must confront the crossed destinies of the poor

and the rich, represent the binary order associated with An­

dean utopia. Half smiling, Flores Ochoa adds: "In themselves,

these images did not contradict the idea of whomever ordered

them to be painted. In this same Catholic church it is said that

we are all sinners; what is disturbing is that the images admit

two readings."

However, the theories of Flores Ochoa, Kuon, and Samanez

take a different tack. To them, there were hidden messages

at Huaro, like an encrypted code, di rected toward members

of pro- independence ritual societies. For these scholars,

this would be the consciousness of death, so important in a

person's passage from ordinary life to a life of esoteric, philo­

sophical, and patriotic speculation in that period. "Societies

organized in that way were more numerous than is believed,"

points out Flores Ochoa. What is the basis for the theories

of these scholars? They find it in the characteristics of one of

the artist's last and most personal works, which he rendered

on the walls of two mills in and around his house in Acomayo.

There, Escalante, already an old man removed from the haste

and pressures of contracts, let his personal imagination loose.

Thus, he rendered a series of images of the creation of the

universe in the so-called "Mol ino de la Creación" [Mil l of Cre­

ation] and of the Inca lineage in the more famous "Mol ino de

los Incas" [Mill of the Incas]. We think they held secret meet­

ings in these mills."

After a long day of travel, we arrive at Acomayo, in search of

the mills and the disturbing images. Was Escalante a conspira­

tor? The house in which these secret meetings may have taken

place is still in perfect condit ion, up the hill in a peaceful, almost

uninhabited village. Deployed in a line, the Inca figures appear

to flank the site, and in the background, there is an image of

the four elements of the earth and an official-looking table. The

painting allows us to imagine Escalante presiding over these

meetings. A shiver goes down my spine.

Evening is falling, and we head off in search of the artist's

other works. After almost two more hours in a van, we reach

the village of Corma. Enormous and on the verge of collapse,

the huge church seems to rise over us with great effort. Now

abandoned by the Catholic Church, its fate is left to the vil­

lagers. Today, the village has opened its doors and is cleaning

up its environs because we are approaching July 25, the date

for celebrating its patron saint, James. A community group—vil­

lagers who have left their f ieldwork for this day only—is trying

to bring order to the vast nave in which some sculptures and

ancient altarpieces are barely standing. The tremendous walls

are all painted white, but in some interstices we can make out

the presence of mural painting. Estrada confirms that mural

paintings appear to be hidden on all the walls. She calculates

that it is about 1,000 square meters. We are shocked. Who or­

dered all these paintings to be covered over? Leon Huallpa, a

young villager in the community, has the answer. "According to

our grandparents' stories, it was the priest, Angel Canal. He had

the paintings covered with white paint. That would have been

more than 100 years ago." What could have been his reason?,

I ask. The answer stops us cold: "People weren't paying atten­

t ion in mass because of the walls; instead of paying attention to

the priest, they were distracted by looking at the figures on the

walls. Our grandparents told us they were beautiful; there were

wonders on those walls."

Is anyone out there brave enough to try to restore them?

WMF.ORG 19

THE FACADE OF SAN JUAN BAUTISTA

IN HUARO, ABOVE. BELOW, BERTRAND

DU VIGNAUD, PRESIDENT OF WORLD

MONUMENTS FUND EUROPE; MARCELA

TEMPLE DE PÉREZ DE CUÉLLAR; MEMBERS

OF PERU'S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF

CULTURE (INC); AND OTHER DISTINGUISHED

GUESTS MARK THE COMPLETION OF THE

MURAL RESTORATION ON JANUARY 28.

with the impression that Escalante

finished these murals only a few

days ago. Comparing the work of

the Peruvian technicians with the

photographs appearing in books on

colonial painting is even more sur­

prising. The restoration has proved

a tremendous success.

"It all began with a phone call

from Marcela Temple de Pérez de

Cuellar," says Huaro project coor­

dinator architect Edwin Benavente

in his office at the National Insti­

tute of Culture in Lima, where he

serves as director of the National

Heritage Office. In 2001, Bertrand

du Vignaud, president of the World

Monuments Fund in Europe, had

decided to organize a trip to Peru

for some of his organization's sup­

porters. Pérez de Cuellar, the wife

of a former UN Secretary General,

was helping to organize the trip. Among other things on their itinerary, she wanted the group

to visit some of the colonial churches between the former Inca centers of Cuzco and Pikillacta.

Their stop at Huaro, says Benevente, was pivotal. "We spent a long time in the church," wrote

Pérez de Cuellar in a correspondence, "We admired each detail as if it were a great work of art.

When we left, I sensed that everyone had been truly impressed at having found a church that

guarded such beauty in such a remote and desolate place."

For local residents, the church has always served as the town's focal point, having been built

only a few years after the Jesuits arrived in Cuzco in 1571. From there, their religious domination

would extend to neighboring indigenous communities on the orders of Viceroy Toledo. Some

believe it was the oppression of the native population under the Spanish that influenced the nam­

ing of the church—San Juan Bautista de Huaro, patron saint of the meek and the dispossessed. To

facilitate the evangelization of the area's indigenous population, various local artists commenced

work on the structure's ornamentation sometime around 1675. This work continued over the years,

with paintings gradually being inserted one on top of the other. Limited ornamentation began first

in the chancel, then proceeded on the walls of the nave and the choir loft. Finally, decoration was

applied to the vestibule, extending to the upper part of the nave and the flat ceiling. The entire

space became enveloped in dazzling color. In time, however, this outstanding legacy had fallen

into a dangerous state of disrepair.

Ada Estrada remembers that the crew's initial objectives did not include a global intervention.

The work would consist of cleaning the paint surfaces and replastering some sections before

proceeding with reintegrating the images. However, a concentration of kikuilo grass (Pennisetum

clandestinum) had caused a great deal of humidity to filter into the church's adobe structure.

This, together with damage wrought by previous restorations—slipshod structural consolidations,

excessive use of cotton and polyvinyl acetate, a retouching adhesive—as well as vandalism, had

destroyed a considerable portion of the paintings. Representative sections of the Infierno and

even arch decorations were virtually lost.

The work was organized in a series of stages, including different levels of intervention based

on the specific deterioration of the paintings, which in some cases required research of the origi­

nal materials used by Escalante and his predecessors to improve maintenance and restoration

techniques or adapt them to a Highland Peruvian context. "We performed a chemical analysis and

found that the original technique used for manufacturing the walls often omitted certain essential

materials: in many sections little straw was used in the adobe, while in others the straw content

was excessive," Estrada explains. This led to partial disintegration of the adobe walls, as well as

an alarming level of cracking and support deterioration. The restorers particularly encountered

problems in the choir loft, which extended to the friezes along the gospel and epistle sides (left

and right) of the nave, as well as along wall bases. The greatest challenge was undoubtedly posed

by the friezes of the chancel. Unlike the paintings in other parts of the church, which could be

• I C O N • WINTER 2000 /2007

treated directly on the wall, mural fragments had to be removed like delicate bits of canvas from this

crucial section and then reset after treatment.

"The first thing we did was to cover the wall paintings with a protective layer of paraloid, a highly

stable adhesive, and then with gauze," Estrada explains. Once the surface had been removed, the

structure of the wall itself was directly treated, filling in cracks and fissures until a smooth surface was

achieved. The same process was also applied to the reverse sides of the separated fragments. In order

to reset the wall, local materials had to be used. "In Cuzco, we were trained in European restoration

techniques, which were designed to deal with conservation of mural painting in the form of frescoes

THE CHURCH REMAINS A CENTER OF

CIVIC LIFE FOR THE VILLAGE OF HUARO.

WMf.ORG

on concrete supports. We thus had to apply new technologies that were

compatible with the Andean environment, as well as with the church's

adobe construction and the techniques employed by Tadeo Escalante.

We used local materials, including mucilage from the jahuancco//ay, a

thorned plant with a powerfully adhesive sap that works quite well as a

replacement [for polyvinyl acetate]." I asked Ada if this technique was

used in the most representative areas of the church, for example the

remarkable vestibule. She said it was not. O f the 1,371 square meters of

wall painting, only about 300 required this form of "intensive surgery."

On our third day at Huaro, after viewing and revisiting each of the

restored areas and their paintings, the inevitable questions arose con­

cerning the future of this magnificent project.

Despite its proximity to Cuzco, which sees thousands of visitors

a year, Huaro is seldom frequented by tourists, who tend to venture

north of the Inca capital to better-known sites on the Inca trail such

as Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo. "Now that the church has been

restored, we are hoping it will become part of a new tourist corridor,

so that the world can begin to know something about us," says Juan

Carlos Rivero Escobar, mayor of Huaro, who is banking on the restora­

tion serving as a catalyst for community development. But there are a

number of obstacles to overcome if his visions of urban renewal are to

come to fruit ion.

One of the most critical problems facing the INC in Cuzco involves

the destruction of heritage by the locals themselves. The problem can

be attr ibuted in large part to a lack of education, says David Ugarte,

director of the INC in Cuzco, noting that future activities at Huaro will be

geared specifically to addressing these issues. "The restoration provides

an articulated starting point, one which we believe is beginning to kindle

a sense of collective consciousness among the people," says Benavente.

"What we have done is to involve the parish, the community, local teach­

ers, so that they will use the building for workshops aimed at teaching

children about the historic and artistic wealth that surrounds them. The

first thing we need to do is generate a consciousness to safeguard what

we have, and then to isolate particular iconography, so that a series of

images can be made using various materials—such as cardboard, wood,

and paper. Tourists could then purchase these items as souvenirs." Luis

Ochoa Palomino, director of the town's Narciso Aréstegui School for

nearly 14 years, looks out at an asphalt ballcourt where several students

are playing. "The paintings are undoubtedly the most beautiful thing we

have in Huaro," he says. Fourteen of his students have enrolled in the

"Defenders of Our Heritage" program, which is part of the Pikillacta

Masterplan, an initiative of INC Cuzco that seeks to identify a corridor

of towns in south of the Inca capital. Katherin Castro and Efraín Alegría,

institute technicians involved in drafting the plan, explain its objectives:

"The students will bring the training and information we provide back to

their own schools, districts and communities, thus fostering understand­

ing and protection of their own cultural legacy," says Castro.

Can collective consciousness be solidly built using this church and its

treasures as a foundation? There is certainly a precedent. The Museo

de Piedras Sagradas (Museum of Sacred Stones), which operates out

of the town's municipal building, was spearheaded by Renato Dávila, an

anthropologist who began collecting Inca and Pre-lnca lithic pieces as

a hobby. The project has attracted the efforts of the entire community.

"At first we couldn't believe it," says Luis Ochoa Palomino. "Now we fully

understand its value." In a room containing more than 300 stones, which

he polishes, cleans, and classifies, Dávila watches his museum collection

grow with each passing day. "Now the people of Huaro knock on my

door," he says, "and bring me more and more stones." •

11 ICON WINTER 2006 /2007

WATCH SITE UPDATE

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by WILL BLACK

ir Giles Gilbert Scott's graceful art-deco Battersea Power Station—famed for its appearance in

I film and on a 1977 Pink Floyd album cover—defines the River Thames just west of the Houses

^ of Parliament. Passing it on a commuter train from Victoria Station, Europe's largest brick

^ k structure is as synonymous with London as the red telephone box, which Gi lbert Scott

^ ^ ^ also designed. Viewed from the river, its front two chimneys and gently dilapidated

^ ^ ^ . dock provide a contemplative landmark, massive in scale, yet quietly settled

^ ^ ^ ^ within its surroundings. It is painful to imagine its replacement by yet an-

^ ^ ^ ^ other soulless apartment block with no connection to a geographical

^ ^ ^ location or t ime period. Yet this would appear to be its fate. This

^ W past December, the power station's owner, Parkview Interna-

^ tional, announced it was selling Battersea to Ireland-based

% Treasury Moldings for £390 million, while leaving the his-

I toric structure in worse condit ion than when they acquired

it 13 years ago. The move marks another depressing but

• predictable chapter in Battersea's history.

m Like the Bankside Power Station, which was converted

f into the phenomenally successful Tate Modern, Battersea,

^ ^ ^ ^ S whose construction began in 1929, tells us a great deal about

^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ London's vanishing twentieth-century industrial heritage. Batter­

sea produced electricity for much of London between 1955 and 1975-

The sulphur dioxide it produced finally ceased belching from its chimneys in 1983. Even if not all

in the architectural world love it, none would doubt its success as a building and the importance

of its surviving but never-seen art-deco interiors, which include faience tiles, bronze doors, and

marble walls. As power stations go, Battersea is beautiful. In fact most Londoners adore Batter­

sea with an unquestioning but perhaps inexplicable affection; it is a comfort ing and distinctive

landmark of London, as much as St. Paul's Cathedral or Westminster Abbey.

The station was decommissioned in 1984 when it was bought by John Broome, then owner

of Alton Towers theme park. His leisure scheme, famously endorsed by former Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher, collapsed amid spiralling costs. His contr ibution, although possibly with good

intentions, resulted only in the removal of the roof and east wall before work stopped in 1987

The site was then bought by property tycoon Victor Hwang's offshore Parkview International

in 1993. He proposed a £1.5 billion makeover of the massive 15-hectare site, complete with two

hotels, 650 homes, movie theaters, and a vast retail space within the historic shell. Sir Philip

Dowson, former president of the Royal Academy, drew up a master plan while Nick Grimshaw,

designer of the Eden project and Waterloo's Eurostar terminal, designed the shopping center.

When W M F placed Battersea Power Station on its 2004 list of lOO Most Endangered Sites,

it was perceived as a controversial move given a plan was technically "in place" and complete

redevelopment slated to finish in 2008. Given the situation, W M F was right to list the site.

In July 200Ó, Victor Hwang took personal control of the power station when he appointed

himself executive director of the project wi th his son Leo as vice-president and his daughter

Vicky as director of leasing. Vicky's enthusiasm was at that moment seemingly unbounded. She

was quoted in The New York Times on November 24th, 2006 saying: "We see the power station

as comparable to the Eiffel Tower or to the Empire State Building. People love this building; I

haven't had any negativity at all. There is a huge desire for this to happen." Less than a week

later her father sold the power station.

Certain parts of Parkview's plans, a hotel that would have crept along the west wall of the

station, for instance, did worry conservationists, but at least major parts of the historic structure

would have been rescued. Had Parkview succeeded in achieving the model they proposed, the

original architectural blueprint would have survived, albeit wi th a shopping mall on the inside.

Battersea certainly cannot afford to ignore the requirements of commercial backers.

Yet with Victor Hwang's recent departure, this debate is now academic. His elaborate models

and websites showing the redevelopment scheme seem as hollow as the station itself. Certainly

Battersea Council members were strung along, giving permission for anything he suggested and

ultimately for the four chimneys to be replaced as Parkview deemed them "structurally unsafe."

I C O N 2 5

OPENING SPREAD: A VIEW OP A report last year, commissioned jointly by W M F and the 20th Century Society, indicated that the

BATTERSEA FROM SOUTH EAST. poor condit ion and fissures in the chimneys had been exaggerated and repair in fact would be a

THE BOILER HOUSE WAS LOCATED cheaper and more viable option.

BETWEEN FOUR CHIMNEYS WHILE THE Parkview claimed it had spent a few million pounds safeguarding the structure, yet when

LOWER BLOCKS TO THE RIGHT ARE representatives of W M F in Britain visited the site in November 2006 there was no evidence of this.

THE 'B' STATION TURBINE HALL AND In fact, according to the Financial Times on December 1st, £200 million was spent on development

SWITCH HOUSE, ELABORATE PLANS TO plans and nine different architectural practices alone. It seems clearthat monies s p e n t o n t h e station

REDEVELOP THE SITE PUBLISHED IN over the past 13 years have gone to project development rather than to any structural repair of the

2002, BELOW, WERE NEVER REALIZED. building itself—unless one discounts a special nesting site for hawks that went up a few years ago.

Meanwhile, representatives of English Heritage, the UK statutory body in charge of the station,

admit they were "taken in." A spokesman for them claimed they always "had to take Parkview's

intentions at face value." They now admit to feeling "depressed" about the current situation. However,

they see no reason why the new owners Treasury Holdings can't pick up Parkview's old scheme and

run with it, although their belief that work will begin this spring seems optimistic, given that the new

owners want another five years before they even announce their plans. English Heritage's powers are

l imited. They can demand urgent repairs, but a "compulsory purchase order" would be unfeasible

with a project of this magnitude. English Heritage has demanded a meeting with Treasury Holdings

to gauge their intentions, but as yet one is not scheduled.

The amount of money needed to restore the site is beyond most commercial reach. The other

issue that has bedevilled Battersea is the question of transport links. In 2004, Hwang promised to

spend £25 million for an upgrade to the railway station, and his plans showed improved walkways

and access from the river. Ken Livingstone, the Mayor of London, quite sensibly pointed out last

year that this issue is key to unlocking the site. Yet Battersea is located opposite Victoria, London's

busiest mainline railway station, separated only by a narrow stretch of the River Thames. It is near

the fashionable and affluent area of Chelsea and overlooks the fine green space of Battersea Park, a

major sports center. In east London billions are being spent starting from scratch on an entire region

for the 2012 London Olympics. Could the power station be re-developed as a major central London

Olympic site? If not, why not learn from the Tate Modern, which is expanding again due to high visitor

numbers and has become something more inspiring than a shopping center. Battersea's riverside

setting would make a perfect concert venue, and would not involve the trek out of central London

that many venues demand. But the government seems to prefer concentrating on visionary new

projects such as Wembley Stadium, the Dome, and sites chosen for the 2012 Olympics.

In October and November last year, Battersea was temporari ly taken over by the edgy Serpentine

Gallery and the station's rusting shell turned into a dramatic setting for its "China Power Station Part

1 exhibition." The multimedia exhibition of contemporary Chinese art and architecture drew a large

audience who were enthralled by this intense setting for film, sound, and a wall of rott ing apples.

Bicycles were provided to cycle around the site while the renowned dim-sum restaurant Yauatcha

took over one pavilion owned by Parkview. For five weeks the site was gloriously alive and active.

Visitors were able to stand inside the monumental shell and appreciate its sheer scale.

It remains to be seen how Battersea will fare under its new owners. Early announcements indicate

a wish to use many of the elements of the Parkview plans. There are worrying signs that they will try

to increase the percentage of housing on the site, and Rob Davies, development director at Treasury

Holdings, backed by Irish property developers John Ronan and Richard Barrett, has already voiced

a desire to remove the chimneys. Yet without the chimneys and the historic fabric, what is the power

station? It is of course a massive opportuni ty for real estate with a burdensome ruin on it, and some

years back, Hwang told W M F in Britain Director Colin Amery that he had just bought a 40-acre site THOUGH DILAPIDATED, BATTERSEA'S

of "prime real estate." ENORMOUS ART- DECO INTERIORS

There are rumors that Treasury Holdings is working on plans with architect Lord Norman Foster to STILL BOAST DETAILS LIKE SIR GILES

increase the residential components of the site at a cost of some of the retail and leisure elements, GILBERT SCOTT'S ORIGINAL MARBLE

While they have promised to invest £2 billion on redeveloping the site, their scheme would not be WALLS AND COLUMNS.

ready for another five years at least. One of the elements of the original plan likely to be kept is

"London's most exclusive restaurant table," one table seating 14 people at the top of one of the

chimneys. Presumably this would be a "replaced" chimney if the developer sticks to his word to put

them back once removed. When W M F asked about the plan, Treasury Holdings refused to respond.

The failure of Battersea is not just a tale of developer's greed and neglect, but also a failure

of ideas to regenerate London's most dramatic icon. The next few years are key for the station,

but unless a developer is serious about restoring the historic fabric, Battersea faces a grim choice

between rapid destruction or gentle dilapidation. •

WMF.ORG 27

- arl Barthé is the Jelly Roll Morton of plaster. Like the legendary jazz pianist, the

84-year-old New Orleans craftsman is a master of improvisation in his medium. In

fact, he often describes his highly ornate ceiling medallions and crown moldings in

musical terms, such as "arias in plaster." Barthé, a self-described "Creole of Color," is

descended from a long line of plasterers, beginning with his great-great grandfather

who came to New Orleans from France via Haiti.

In 2005, the National Endowment for the Arts awarded Barthé a prestigious

National Heritage Fellowship, recognizing his lifetime achievement in building craftsmanship. As

he described in an interview at the time, the Barthé family is one of the most recognized plaster

families in the United States. "My father was a plasterer, his father was a plasterer, his uncles and

everybody else were plasterers. The Barthé children just knew they had to be plasterers. Daddy

didn't want me to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an Indian chief. He wanted me to be a plasterer." Hurchail

Barthé, Earl's son, continued the tradition by learning the plaster trade.

But a profound shift has occurred over the last generation. "Plastering families wanted their

children to follow in their footsteps," said Barthé. "You don't have that as much now. I have grand­

children who are nurses, doctors, and things like that. It would be difficult to say, 'I want you to be

a plasterer.'" But the future of New Orleans and the United State's architectural heritage depends

on just that—the survival of not just plastering, but all the traditional building trades.

by M O R R I S H Y L T O N III

The loss of craftspeople experienced in historic building materials and techniques is directly relat­

ed to the steady erosion of traditional systems of training. The causes are myriad and complex.

The introduction of modern building materials and technologies resulting from the rise in

industrialization over the last IOO or so years—but particularly since World War II—has impacted

how craftspeople are trained and employed. Small family-oriented workshops have been replaced

with larger construction companies, resulting in the loss of apprenticeship opportunities in tra­

ditional construction methods. Existing apprenticeship programs, such as those developed and

supported by the major trade unions like the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, focus primarily

on contemporary building applications and, at best, offer only an introduction to traditional tech­

nologies and preservation.

Then there are the changes in the American public educational system. Most schools expect

high-level students to pursue a two-year associates or four-year baccalaureate degree after

graduation. In 2002, for instance, the federal government—as part of the "No Child Left Behind"

Act—proposed to significantly decrease funds allocated toward vocational education. With strong

opposition from organizations like the Association for Career Technical Education and National

Association of Secondary School Principals, the original bill was altered and the federal monies

for vocational programs remained intact. But despite the survival of the funding for vocational

programs, the majority of support goes toward training in computers and other technologies. Much

less is allocated for instruction in the construction trades.

But perhaps the greatest impact on the recruitment and education of building craftspeople is

the lack of respect our society affords to those who work with their hands. The skills of building

artisans are often unappreciated. Individuals who work with their hands—as well as their heads—are

WMF IS

ENSURING

Á BRIGHTER

FUTURE FOR

THE FIELD OF

PRESERVATION

BY TRAINING

CRAFTSMEN

AND REVIVING

LOST ARTS.

WMF.ORG • I C O N •

often treated as second-class citizens. To echo the sentiment of Earl Barthé: How many parents today

encourage their children to be plasterers or masons or timber framers instead of doctors, lawyers, and

bankers?

These societal and economic changes and their impact on the traditional building trades have

occurred over several generations, and it will take several generations to reverse the trend. W M F is

leading the effort.

For more than four decades, building-crafts training in the service of preservation has been a global

theme of W M F programs. In Cambodia, WMF helped create a new generation of preservation-minded

masons to conserve the ancient remains of Angkor after many of the country's artisans lost their lives

during the violent rule of the Khmer Rouge. WMF supported the formation of a school of carpentry in

Chiloé, Chile, to aid in the restoration of hundreds of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century churches,

constructed by local craftsman using historic shipbuilding techniques and methods. The churches—threat-

IN 2 0 0 6 , WMF LAUNCHED A FIELD

SCHOOL AT THE MOUNT LEBANON

SHAKER VILLAGE WHERE APPRENTICES

FROM THE AMERICAN COLLEGE OF

THE BUILDING ARTS AND FRENCH

COMPAGNONS WORKED WITH

STUDENTS FROM THE UNIVERSITY

OF FLORIDA COLLEGE OF DESIGN,

CONSTRUCTION, AND PLANNING AND

THE BROOKLYN HIGH SCHOOL OF THE

ARTS TO RESTORE THE TIMBER FRAME

OF AN 1830 GRANARY.

American College of the Building Arts, Charleston, S C n 2003, W M F facilitated a partnership between the Associa­

tion Ouvriére des Compagnons du Devoir et Tour de France-

France's highly regarded system for education building crafts­

man—and the then School of the Building Arts in Charleston,

SC, (see ICON Spring 2005). The School of the Building Arts

was founded in 1988 to address the lack of qualified craftspeople

needed to restore the historic buildings of Charleston following

Hurricane Hugo. The Compagnons served as a model as the

leaders and staff of the School of Building Arts developed a

four-year program and, in 2005, launched the American College

of the Building Arts (ACBA), the first baccalaureate degree for

building craftsmanship in the United States. "You can't restore

historic buildings if you don't have the skilled craftspeople," says

Simeon Warren, Dean of the College and Professor of Architec­

tural Stone Carving. "Over the past lOO years, the educational

pathways that led to that kind of skill level have broken down.

We're trying to help rebuild those

systems."

The ACBA educates and

trains artisans in the traditional

building arts to foster exceptional

craftsmanship and encourage the

preservation, enrichment, and

appreciat ion of archi tectural

heritage. Students major in one

of seven crafts: timber framing,

carpentry, masonry, stone carv­

ing, plaster, ornamental iron work,

and painting and finishes. "As a college, we're trying to reconnect

the hand-skills with the mind," says Warren. "And we emphasize

the theoretical knowledge that you need to really learn the trade

and eventually become a great craftsperson."

H) W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7

mmmm^^^^^mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm Brooklyn Stained Glass Conservation Center

At the post-graduate level, W M F supported the formation of the Brook­

lyn Stained Glass Conservation Center, the nation's only non-profit

dedicated to educating stained glass artisans and conservators. "We've

had six full-time apprentices since we've started and each one has

been successful," says David Fraser, executive director and senior conservator

of the center. A partnership with the Preservation Arts and Technology High

School Program in Brooklyn, the first high school in the United States to teach

the building trades using the theme of historic preservation, also brings interns

into the studio each summer. "We've had the most wonderful kids, and each one

has designed and made a stained glass window," says Fraser. "We give them these

skills, these twelfth-century techniques, and they get a whole new sense of what

they're capable of." Since 2003,

W M F has helped fund an exchange

program that allows French stained

glass artisans—early in their appren­

ticeships and careers—to work at

the studio, learning the materials

and techniques specific to stained

glass in this country, specifically the

methods employed by the disciples

of Louis Comfort Tiffany.

ened as much by the decline in the number of local craftspeople as by wood rot and

insect damage—were placed on the first W M F watch list of 100 Most Endangered

Sites in 1996.

In the United States, W M F has emerged as a leader in a growing effort to raise

public awareness of the role of the craftsperson in the preservation process, and

to create new and sustain existing educational opportunities for those interested

in becoming building artisans. In 1993, W M F convened a symposium that brought

together representatives from the public and private sectors to examine how the

country's youth and displaced workers could be introduced to technical vocations

in preservation and trained to fill jobs. A direct outcome of the symposium was the

development of the Preservation Arts & Technology High School program.

In 2000, W M F partnered with the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Center

for Architecture and Building Science research to create the nation's first high

school dedicated to preservation. Housed within the Brooklyn High School of the

Arts, the program exposes its students to historic architecture, traditional building

construction, and preservation, while those students majoring in preservation arts

take additional hands-on classes focusing on the technical application of the trades

and preservation.

Beyond the high school level, which introduces and recruits young people to the

building trades and preservation, W M F has supported a number of other innovative

educational programs that are changing how the next generation of craftspeople are

formally educated and trained. These include the American College of the Building

Arts (ACBA), the first four year-year baccalaureate degree for building craftsman­

ship in the United States, and the Brooklyn Stained Glass Conservation Center,

the nation's only non-profit with the mission of training stained glass artisans and

conservators (see sidebars).

Employing the lessons learned creating programs like the Preservation Arts &

Technology High School, W M F consolidated its activities in 2004 and launched the

Traditional Building Arts Initiative. Recognizing the many needs impacting traditional

building education, W M F designed a multifaceted approach aimed at raising public

and professional awareness and experimenting with new ways to recruit and educate

the next generation of building artisans.

WMF has organized and supported a number of forums that bring together people

IN OCTOBER 2 0 0 6 , MORE THAN SO

STUDENTS FROM THE PRIESTLEY HIGH

SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE AND

BUILDING CONSTRUCTION IN NEW

ORLEANS PARTICIPATED IN A SERIES

OF DEMONSTRATION RESTORATION

PROJECTS AND WORKSHOPS

SPONSORED BY WMF AND

PRESERVATION TRADES NETWORK FOR

THE HOLY CROSS NEIGHBORHOOD

OF THE CITY'S LOWER NINTH

WARD. NEW ORLEANS STUDENTS

HAD AN OPPORTUNITY TO WORK

WITH FELLOW STUDENTS FROM THE

PRESERVATION ARTS & TECHNOLOGY

PROGRAM AT THE BROOKLYN HIGH

SCHOOL OF THE ARTS.

WMI.ORG

THE NORTH FAMILY SHAKER

GRANARY-THE ONLY SURVIVING

BUILDING OF ITS KIND-WAS

COMPLETELY ENVELOPED IN

SCAFFOLDING. THE ENCLOSURE,

WHICH PROVIDED SAFE ACCESS

TO THE SITE AND PROTECTION TO

THE ELEMENTS, SERVED AS THE

APPRENTICES AND STUDENTS

PRIMARY "CLASSROOM" DURING

THE TEN-WEEK FIELD SCHOOL.

from both within and outside the preservation community to learn from one another's experiences

and to work together toward a common goal. At Belmont Technical College in St. Clairsville, Ohio,

in 2005, W M F participated in and sponsored the first International Trades Education Symposium

organized by the Preservation Trades Network—a national, non-profit organization whose mission

is to provide educational opportunities in the preservation-focused building trades and to develop

a network of interested organizations and individuals. Craftspeople, architecture and preservation

specialists, and educators from more than ten countries gathered to share individual experiences.

Supported by WMF, Japanese carpenters and members of Kezurou-Kai—an organization dedicated

to preserving knowledge of traditional Japanese woodworking skills—underscored the importance

of building crafts knowledge as intangible cultural heritage. In Japan, the government designates

living master craftspeople as national treasures.

In addition to the public and professional forums, W M F assembled representatives from a

number of organizations and groups, such as the National Council for Preservation Education,

and formed a task force to examine traditional building education from a national perspective.

The trades are not tracked by the federal government or the construction industry, so task force

members are currently working on a strategic plan to survey and assess the traditional building

trades in the United States one at a time.

While the task force takes a "top-down" approach to building craft education, the traditional

building and historic preservation field school developed by WMF is intended to address one of the

most important needs from the bottom up. Initiated for the first time at Mount Lebanon Shaker Vil-

Trad itional Building and Historic Preservation Field School

WMF partnered with the Preservation Trades Network

(PTN), American College of the Building Arts, and

the University of Florida's College of Design, Con­

struction and Planning to develop the Traditional

Building and Historic Preservation Field School model. Among

the school's goals are fostering interaction between craftspeople

and preservation specialists, as well as promoting local traditional

building and preservation education. In the summer of 2006,

first-year students from the American College of the Building

Arts and advanced students f rom France's Association Ouvr-

iére des Compagnons du Devoir et Tour de France worked with

architecture and historic preservation graduate students from

the University of Florida to survey, document, and restore the

timber frame structure of the 1838 North Family Shaker Granary

at Mount Lebanon Shaker Village in New Lebanon, New York. "It is

a completely unique building in the United States and was meticu­

lously crafted," says Rudy Chris­

tian, a master timber framer and

project development director for

PTN who led the field school. "So

it was perfect place for students

to step in to the boots of a master

builder. Once they learned how to W

read the building, the carpenter's - ^

way of thinking nearly 200 years

ago was transferred to the stu- /

dents today. There is no way you

could have taught that to them ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ™

on a blackboard." The field school should serve as a

model that can be adapted at other cultural heritage

U.S. Discussions are underway for similar schools in

New York, and Charleston, South Carolina.

successful

sites in the

Newburgh,

A FIFTH-GENERATION PLASTERER,

EARL BARTHÉ RETURNED TO HIS

HOME CITY OF NEW ORLEANS IN

OCTOBER 2 0 0 6 TO ACCEPT THE

ASKINS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FOR

THE PROMOTION, APPLICATION,

AND EDUCATION OF PRESERVATION

TRADE SKILLS. DURING HIS VISIT,

BARTHÉ VISITED THE DEMONSTRATION

RESTORATION PROJECTS AT

LAFAYETTE CEMETERY NO. 1, WHICH

ARE BEING SPONSORED BY WMF AND

IMPLEMENTED BY THE AMERICAN

COLLEGE OF THE BUILDING ARTS AND

THE PRESERVATION TRADES NETWORK.

lage in New Lebanon, New York, in summer 2006, the field school

model created by W M F brings together building trades appren­

tices from programs like the ACBA and graduate-level students in

architecture, preservation, and allied disciplines and allows them

to work together to apply knowledge acquired in the classroom

or shop to a real-world project. A 2004 and 2006 W M F Watch

site, Mount Lebanon Shaker Village was the physical and spiritual

center of the Shaker world. The aesthetic principles that define the

Shakers' distinct material culture—including objects, furnishings,

and architecture—were first developed at Mount Lebanon along

with the concept of craftsmanship as a form of worship.

Based in part on the f ield-school model developed and

employed at Mount Lebanon, WMF collaborated with the Preser­

vation Trades Network and University of Florida College of Design,

Construction, and Planning to undertake a series of workshops

complementing a number of demonstration restoration projects

along the post-Hurricane Katrina Gulf Coast. In late October 2006,

over 200 craftspeople and preservation specialists descended on

the Holy Cross neighborhood of New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward to participate in an International

Preservation Trades Workshop and to volunteer on one of four projects to restore the community's

historic architecture. A separate workshop was held at the city's Lafayette Cemetery No. 1, where

participants repaired and stabilized three historic tombs damaged by the hurricane.

Earl Barthé and his family—who were displaced by the flooding—traveled home to New Orleans

so he could be honored at the workshop with an Askins Achievement Award presented by Preserva­

tion Trades Network. Named for Jim Askins, the founder of the U.S. National Park Service Preserva­

tion Training Center, the award recognizes outstanding contributions and accomplishments in the

promotion, education, and application of preservation trades skills. Barthé spoke of his desire to

start a formal apprenticeship program to recruit young people to the trades. He also took part in

the Lafayette cemetery workshop.

"Meeting Mr. Barthe was a real inspiration," says Mimi Conlon, a first-year ACBA student who

participated in the cemetery workshop. "He's amazing, a legend. And when he was talking to us about

working with plaster, you got the sense that there is so much you can do with your life when you have

these skills." The nation's architectural legacy depends on the transfer and survival of the knowledge

of master craftsmen like Barthé to students like Conlon. With the growth in partnerships and projects

W M F has helped foster, there is real hope for the future. This summer Conlon will participate in the

field school at Mount Lebanon. Inspired by her training at the ABCA and experience at workshops

like the one at Lafayette cemetery, she will put her skills to use restoring a stone barn expertly built

by the Shakers in i860, a promising place to begin a career in the building arts. •

WMF.ORG 33

LOCATED NEAR THE PLUTO NATURAL GAS

FIELD, THE CARVED PANEL BELOW AND

THE ENGRAVINGS ON THE FACING PAGE

ARE JUST A FEW OF THE HUNDREDS OF

ROCK ART SITES AT RISK AS INDUSTRIAL

DEVELOPMENT OF AUSTRALIA'S BURRUP

PENINSULA CONTINUES.

t's hard to imagine a more impressive—or more endangered—cultural land­

scape in Australia than the Dampier Rock Art Site. The largest, and quite

possibly oldest, rock art precinct in the world consists of thousands of jagged red Pilbara rocks which,

on closer inspection, reveal in their shadowed crevasses or sun-beaten surfaces the images of lively

humans, animals, and plants. Some are darkly outlined images of the now-extinct Tasmanian tiger, each

so individual in their sleek stripes or wolfish mien that they hint at myriad artists and several millennia of

rituals involving the carnivorous marsupial. Others resemble photo negatives, faces created by tapping

down through mineral-darkened surfaces to reveal pale rock. They are mysterious, often beautiful clues

to generations of industrious artists who, over a period spanning perhaps 20,000 years, roamed this

remote archipelago on the northwest coast of Western Australia, which jutts into the Indian Ocean.

Yet, unlike the more famous Bradshaw paintings found further north in the Kimberley region, no

book has ever been published that celebrates the importance of Dampier and conveys its ethnographic

and aesthetic qualities to the public. Nor is there any hint that the reverential care and protection accorded

England's Stonehenge, Cambodia's Angkor, or the painted caves of Lascaux, France, will ever be enjoyed

here, despite the site's inclusion on WMF's 2006 list of 700 Most Endangered Sites.

Just why Dampier's rock art has failed to attract the kind of advocacy that has propelled the Bradshaw

paintings into prominence over the years lies squarely in its location. While the Bradshaws are found in

caves on pastoral leases held by sympathetic owners, Dampier's artifacts blanket a 20-kilometer-long sliver

of land and sea on which multibillion-dollar industries have set up shop.

When construction of the Northwest Shelf Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) processing plant began on the

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

2 0 0 6 WATCH SITE UPDATE

by VICTORIA LAURIE

The fate of Australia's Dampier Rock Art Site hangs in the balance Burrup four decades ago, thousands of petroglyphs were destroyed or removed

to make way for the installation and its extensive port facilities, which have since

grown into a $30 billion industrial precinct. Recently, one of the six multi-national

resource partners in the Northwest Shelf project, Woodside Energy, announced

plans to build its own gas processing plant for its nearby offshore Pluto natural

gas reserve on an uncleared site south of the LNG complex, where 165 rock

engravings will be disturbed. Most of these, Woodside says, are to be relocated

to make way for the plant.

Robert Bednarik, convenor of the International Federation

of Rock Art Organizations, says Burrup's problems arise from

Australia's flawed heritage legislation. Companies are compelled

to conduct impact studies and pay for them, meaning that hired

archaeologists conduct surveys that never reach the public domain.

"That's why there have been no publications, only dozens of unpub­

lished internal reports, some of which are quite substantial."

In 2006, he self-published the only booklet on Burrup's rock art

as part of his advocacy effort. "I have people ringing me up after

seeing my book and saying 'Why have we not been told about this?'"

In early December, Labor MP Carmen Lawrence, a former Western Australian

premier, Federal Greens senator Rachel Siewert, and Independent MP Peter

Andren—aware of growing concern over the fate of Dampier—lodged an emer­

gency application to halt any more disturbance on the Burrup in a bid to hasten

a formal decision by Federal Environment and Heritage Minister Ian Campbell

to place the rock art site on Australia's National Heritage List, a move that would

give the area greater protection under federal heritage laws.

WMF.ORC; • I C O N • 35

Burrup Peninsula

A DEEPLY ETCHED CARVING

DEPICTS A TASMANIAN

TIGER, AN ANIMAL THAT

BECAME EXTINCT ON THE

MAINLAND OF AUSTRALIA

BETWEEN 2 . 0 0 0 AND 3 , 0 0 0

YEARS AGO. BASED ON ITS

STYLE, THE ENGRAVING MAY

SIGNIFICANTLY PREDATE

THE TIME OF THE

ANIMAL'S EXTINCTION.

Minister Campbell was palpably moved by what he saw when he visited the Burrup last July. "What

was amazing to me was how the illustrations in some cases had the clarity of computer images—emus,

lizards, turtles, kangaroos, and people. They are so sharp and absolutely stunning, and one of the big

things is going to be tourism," he told The Australian shortly after his visit.

Yet it seems Campbell was furious at the opposition MPs' emergency application, saying it jeopar­

dized ongoing talks between government and industry to find a compromise position, and has since

announced that he may delay making any decision on the site. Amendments to the Environmental

Protection and Biodiversity Act currently before the Australian parliament will allow him to defer

any decision to list Dampier indefinitely.

In the interim, Campbell's office has been f looded with thousands of protests against further

destruction of Burrup's rock engravings. The National Trust of Western Aus­

tralia said public protest and media focus—prompted in large part by the

site's Watch listing—had led to a dramatic twist in December in which

both resource giant Woodside Energy and the Western Australian

government dropped their opposition to National Heritage Listing of

the Burrup peninsula.

Both had previously opposed listing "all or any part of" the Bur­

rup on the grounds that heritage protect ion laws could limit industrial

expansion of Australia's largest—and one of the world's most lucrative—resource projects, the

Northwest Shelf. But in a move viewed as an effort to placate public sentiment while clinging

to their industrial objectives, both Woodside and the state government have signalled support

for listing as long as certain industrial areas—including their proposed Pluto site—are specifically

excluded from heritage protect ion.

Woodside director Keith Spence said strong public support for protection of rock art had prompt­

ed the company's change of heart regarding National Heritage Listing. "We recognize there are a lot

of opinions out there—we've listened to stakeholders, to the public, and to our own employees," he

said. "We can up our game in looking after this national treasure."

The Western Australia National Trust welcomed Woodside's decision, but pointed out that it did

not change the fact that hundreds of rock art artifacts were still destined for demolition to make way

9%$f

' » - j < j

for the Pluto plant. "They are trying to make the best of a bad situation, and grudgingly giving ground,"

said National Trust spokesman Robin Chappie. "They can see the writing is on the wall in terms of

future development on the Burrup and they are trying to grab their little piece [of land]."

In another partial conservation gesture, Woodside also signalled it is considering funding a compre­

hensive survey of all Burrup rock art, which has never been done. It would require the documenting of

up to a million rock etchings and could cost several million dollars. The company claims that it already

spends around one million dollars a year on rock art management, and has redesigned its Pluto LNG

plant. "As a result, Pluto will avoid more than 90 percent of rock art and we are working with local

Aborigines to minimize impact on the remainder," a recent company release reported.

The local Aboriginal custodians—the Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo, Ngarluma Yindjibarndi, and Yaburara Mard-

hudhunera peoples—had signed an agreement in 2003 that permitted further industrial development

on parts of the Burrup in return for compensation monies and land access. A "no objection" clause

in the agreement effectively prevented them from public utterances against rock art removal.

But in January, Woodside was informed by two out of three local indigenous groups they would no

longer acquiesce to the destruction of rock art. Their decision was prompted by news that Woodside

proposed to shear off rock carvings from the face of large boulders that were too big to move. "They

can't slice the rock because it's not right—it's a spiritual issue," said Wong-Goo-Tt-Oo elder Wilfred

Hicks. Ngarluma spokesperson Jill Churnside said it was a rampant act of vandalism towards indig­

enous culture. "We have rights under Section 7 of the Aboriginal Heritage Act as traditional owners

to veto destruction of sites but the government refuses to acknowledge this," said Churnside. Rock

art supporters say this goes to the heart of the problem raised by the Burrup—that Australia's sys­

tem of protecting heritage sites, and priceless heritage is expendable in the face of development.

The National Trust says the only way to balance the preservation of cultural treasures and building

resource wealth for the state will be to create a single, independent authority to manage the Burrup

peninsula and surrounding islands.

Western Australian premier Alan Carpenter says the state government has long acknowledged

the significant heritage values of Dampier. "Nevertheless, we strongly believe that it is possible to

protect these values of the archipelago and that industry and heritage may co-exist in the area."

Only time will tell. •

THE ENIGMATIC ARCHAIC FACES, ABOVE

LEFT, FOUND IN LARGE NUMBERS OVER THE

BURRUP ARE AMONG THE EARLIEST ROCK

ART WORKS IN THE REGION. THOUGHT

TO HAVE BEEN CARVED SOME 2 5 , 0 0 0 TO

3 0 , 0 0 0 YEARS AGO, THE IMAGES WERE

RENDERED IN NEGATIVE RELIEF. ABOVE,

TWO OF THE INDUSTRIAL INSTALLATIONS

ON THE NORTHWEST SHELF THAT HAVE PUT

THE DAMPIER ROCK ART SITE AT RISK.

WMI.ORG i7

PORTUGAL

POLITICAL DIFFERENCES ARE SET ASIDE TO PRESERVE A SPANISH LANDMARK.

by NORMA BARBACCI ™ ew Watch listings have prompted so much outrage in a nation's national

press as WMF's inclusion of the Roman aqueduct in Segovia, Spain, on

its 2006 list of JOO Mosf Endangered Sites. The listing also revealed

the problems that can arise when municipalities, regional governments,

ministries of culture, and heritage organizations share jurisdiction over

the management of a country's patrimony but have disparate notions

of what is best for a given site.

_ _ ^ _ ^ _ _ _ Begun in the second half of the first century A.D., the aqueduct at

Segovia is a masterpiece of Roman engineering, which continued to

provide the Spanish city—lOO kilometers northwest of Madrid—with

potable water well into the twentieth century. The aqueduct system

stretches some 15 kilometers, from its origins at a freshwater source in

the Sierra de Guadarrama southeast of the city to the Alcázar, a medieval castle built atop

Roman remains on a precipice overlooking the junction of the Eresma and the Clamores

valleys, which marks the northwest corner of town. Together with the walls of Tarragona,

the aqueduct is one of the two largest surviving Roman structures in Spain.

For most of its route, the aqueduct traverses the landscape through a series of ducts

and underground channels. Only for its final stretch, where the system must bridge a deep

depression at the Plaza del Azoguejojust below the old part of town, however, does it reach

a full height of nearly 30 meters. There, where many of the main roads into Segovia meet,

118 pillars continue to support a two-story arcade.

Thought to have been commissioned by the Flavian emperor Domitian (r. A.D. 81-96),

the aqueduct was first repaired at the request of Trajan in A.D. 98, according to the remains

of an inscription that graces one of the lower arches. Although the gilded bronze letters

of the inscription have long since vanished, holes for the lead pegs that once held them

I C O N ' WINTER 2006 /2007

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have permitted the text to be read. Fourteen of the surviving pillars were completely rebuilt

between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Despite its high profile and Segovia's inscription on UNESCO's World Heritage list in 1985,

the aqueduct had, until recently, been threatened by lack of maintenance, differential decay

of its individual stone blocks, water leakage from the upper viaduct, and in some areas pollu­

tion, which has caused the granite ashlar masonry to deteriorate and crack. In an attempt to

address the conservation problems the Junta de Castilla y Leon, the regional government,

launched a campaign to preserve the aqueduct in 1992, an effort underwritten in large part

by Caja Madrid, one of Spain's leading banks.

Although many of the aqueduct's structural issues were addressed at that time—primarily

in above ground areas—nothing was done to halt the erosion of the masonry blocks them­

selves, which have continued to deteriorate at an alarming rate due to pollution and exposure

to the elements. More disturbing, however, it seemed that several interventions were carried

out that actually exacerbated rather than remedied the aqueduct's problems, including the

use of inappropriate restoration materials and the installation of a lead channel that retains

water, the latter leading to biological growth. In addition, few if any measures were taken to

protect the subsurface portions of the water system; the location and conditions of some

areas remain undocumented to this day. This lack of documentation and public awareness of

the system, some say, was to blame for the accidental destruction of a subterranean portion

of the aqueduct during construction of a new high-speed rail line between the city and the

Sierra de Guadarrama in 2000-2001.

The precarious state of preservation of the aqueduct prompted the Municipality of

Segovia to nominate the Roman wonder for inclusion on WMF's 2006 list of IOO Most

Endangered Sites, a move that angered the regional government, which had carried out the

controversial 1990s restoration work and is ultimately responsible for the historic resources

for the region.

Following WMF's Watch listing and acting upon recommendations put forth by UNESCO,

American Express stepped forward with a grant of $125,000 to underwrite the development

of a comprehensive conservation plan for the site and its environs. The plan will be drafted

by an international team—among them noted structural engineer Giorgio Croci, conserva­

tor Jose Delgado, and archaeologist Isabel Roda—that would be coordinated by Jose Maria

Ballester and Pablo Longoria of WMF's Spanish office working in concert with the munici­

pality and Spain's Ministry of Culture. Beyond endorsing the plan, the ministry agreed to up

the funds needed to maintain the site from €l8,000—which had been provided by the Caja

de Segovia bank—to €120,000 annually, thereby helping the cash-strapped municipality to

care for the aqueduct.

Slated for completion later this year, the conservation plan calls for the archaeological

and geological documentation of the entire water system and the creation of a GIS-based

database for the management of the site; the immediate removal of the lead channel installed

during the 1990s restoration; and the limiting of vehicular access around the aqueduct. Con­

servation of the site, however, will take nearly a decade to complete. Once done, maintenance

of this great engineering marvel will require that all of the agencies responsible for it continue

to work together, politics aside. An agreement to this effect is currently on the table. •

WMF.ORG ICON 41

M? i =7-1 ?*i -T-.1 -i ii ;i =M ÍL\V-"I I r-»r

Fresco and mural conservation

specialists are a brave, frighteningly

knowledgeable, and slightly geeky

elite, traveling the world studying

painted walls and trying to keep

maximum amounts of original pigment

adhering. Over the past decade, the arsenal

of high-tech tools and chemicals for analysis

and repair has expanded greatly. But this

roving band and the institutions they work

for must still rely on venerable scientific

methods: they hypothesize, get second and

third opinions, and test in labs again and

again before selecting treatment protocols.

And the experts must sometimes concoct

gentle restoration potions with ingredients

as primeval as egg whites. Here are three

pioneers who are working to advance the

state of the art, whether in Chinese mud-

walled caves, Italian cathedrals' groin vaults,

or Brooklyn laboratories.

Principal project specialist, Getty Conservation Institute, Los Angeles, California. Mural territory: Buddhist cave temples cut into rock cliffs at Mogao, in northwest China

For two decades Neville Agnew

has visited China at least annually,

orchestrating conservation of cave

murals up to 1,600 years old. Buddhist

monks and their wealthy patrons com­

missioned the paintings from master

craftsmen; the dried-mud walls in some

490 grottoes depict scenes from the

Buddhist canon and Chinese daily life,

and often portray the benefactors them­

selves. Agnew and his international col­

leagues have collaborated with scholars

at Dunhuang Academy, which oversees

the site as a research center and increas-

by EVE M. KAHN

ingly popular tourist attraction. The

teams just finished a showpiece project,

Cave 85, which was painted in the 860s

with mineral pigments that retain their

bold green and brick-red palette. Parts

of the murals have separated from the

rock, eroded, flaked, or fallen due to

salt infiltration, sandstorms, floods, and

earthquakes.

To stabilize what remains and simulate

original plaster, the Getty cohort and

fellow scientists tested 80 grout formu­

las. "We were looking for the optimal

combination of fluidity, quick set time,

light weight, durability, adhesion, and

water resistance," Agnew explains. The

winner? A mixture of Scotchlite Kl glass

microspheres, pumice, and whipped egg

whites. "We moved very slowly before we

agreed on a treatment approach," Agnew

adds. "We hear all the time, 'what's the

newest material, where's the magic bul­

let?' But hastening to intervene can be a

catastrophe, and sometimes doing noth­

ing is best—although that wasn't the case

at all, as it turned out, for Cave 85."

In collaboration with the Chinese

government, he has helped draw up

formal national guidelines called "Prin­

ciples for the Conservation of Heritage

Sites in China." The thick document, he

says, "will have bite and impact and wide

dissemination." The Getty is meanwhile

studying how many tourists Mogao can

handle: "It's a complicated matter, involv­

ing studies of microclimates and visi­

tor routing and quality of experience,"

Agnew reports. The research will shape

a management plan that could prove a

role model for other Chinese sites.

The Getty is also involved in another

temple project at Mogao, Cave 260,

which will serve as a training ground for

masters-degree candidates studying

wall-painting conservation at Chinese

universities and London's Courtauld

Institute. "Cave 260 has different prob­

lems from Cave 85," Agnew says. "It's

two or three hundred years older, and it

burned at some point, so there's a great

deal of soot to deal with. And we don't

know yet if the pigments and binding

media there are the same as the ones at

Cave 85- There'll be generations of ardu­

ous work to be done at Mogao."

42 I C O N - FALL 2006

MARINE COTTE Post-doctoral researcher, European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, Grenoble, France. Mural territory: Pompeii and environs, Bamiyan caves in central Afghanistan

Paint flecks with the circumference

of a hair shaft are Marine Cotte's

stock in trade. She works at the

European Synchrotron Radiation Facil­

ity, a donut-shaped airport-size lab in

Grenoble, which can shoot high-intensity

x-ray beamlines at microscopic samples.

The resulting data indicates not only all

the piece's ingredients but also how those

compounds are molecularly bonded.

Physicians, physicists, chemists, biolo­

gists, and forensic scientists, among other

professions, reserve time

for studies at the ESRF.

Cot te specializes in assisting

archaeologists.

In 2005, she collaborated

with an Italian team to train

ESRF machines on fragments

of frescoes from the Villa

Sora, a ruined first-century

home near Pompeii. Cinna­

bar red pigments there have

blackened, and conservators

long believed that sunlight

was causing the sulfide to

morph into a crystal called

metacinnabar. But Cotte's

discoveries defied that com­

mon wisdom. The ESRF, she

explains, "found no metacin­

nabar at all. Instead there was

chlorine. It was difficult to

detect in the mixture of many

compounds, but it was defi­

nitely there. We found it in the

blackened degradation layer,

which is about 10% as thick as

a strand of hair." (For details

of the results, see an article in the journal

Analytical Chemistry, downloadable at

http://pubs.acs.org/cgi-bin/sample.cgi/

ancham/2006/78/i2l/pdf/aco6l2224.pdf.)

She's now examining cinnabar-dyed

fresco flecks from various Roman

archaeological sites and from museum

collections of wall fragments. "I want to

see if the proximity of the Mediterranean

brought in the chlorine to the Villa Sora,

or if chlorine is found in samples exposed

to various atmospheric conditions," she

notes. "I'm looking for general tendencies,

to see if we need to adapt treatments to

the presence of chlorine."

Scrapings of mural paint from the

Bamiyan Buddhist temple caves in

Afghanistan are also piled on her desk

lately, for studies led by a Japanese team

and partly funded by UNESCO. "We're

trying to understand the painting tech­

niques and some degradation problems

there," she says. "We don't know yet

which pigments were used, and how they

were mixed." That is, x-rays from a state-

of-the-art accelerator in France will help

unravel the mysteries of domed grottoes

full of seventh-century Buddha portraits,

just spared from the Taliban.

RED PIGMENTS HAVE TURNED

BLACK IN A DEGRADED WALL

PAINTING, LEFT, IN THE VILLA

Dl POPPEA, OPLONTIS, ITALY.

ELEONORA DEL FEDERICO AND

ALEXEJ JERSCHOW AND THEIR

STUDENTS, BELOW, USE A

RECENTLY ACQUIRED NMR TO

ANALYZE ULTRAMARINE PIGMENTS.

ELEONORA DEL FEDERICO Associate professor of chemistry at Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY, and Andrew W. Mellon Conservation Fellow at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY Mural territory: Anywhere in Europe with murals painted blue in the Middle Ages or Renaissance

E leonora Del Federico cooks up

blue fresco pigments based on

centuries-old recipes, laced with

powdered lapis (for ultramarine

tones), azurite, or copper. She paints

some samples on plaster, sprinkles

salt here and there, and then stores

the swatches in sealed, humidified lab

chambers. After a week or two, the

ultramarine tends to fade to yellowish

gray, and the azurite and copper turn

green. With teams co-led by Alexej

Jerschow, a chemistry professor at

New York University, Del Federico and

Pratt fine arts professor Licio Isolani

are figuring out why the paints fail and

how to arrest or undo the damage.

In the conservation trade, the lapis

decay is called "ultramarine sickness."

With nuclear magnetic resonance

(NMR) analysis, Del Federico explains,

"we discovered that in ultramarine,

there are cages of aluminum and

silicon atoms that hold sulfur

molecules. Humidity and the alkalinity

in plaster combine to break down

those cages, and the sulfur molecules

aren't stable once they're loose."

Ultramarine losses are particularly

devastating in religious murals: the

color was popular for robes worn

by Jesus and the Virgin Mary (it also

appears in the Sistine Chapel's sky).

"We're looking into how to protect

the sulfur cages," Del Federico says.

"There's also a remote chance we'll

f ind ways to regenerate the cages and

trap the sulfur back inside."

With funds from the Alfred P. Sloan

Foundation, her lab has just acquired

a portable NMR machine, which fits

into a carry-on-size suitcase. "We're

figuring out which would be the best

sites to try it out," she says. "It's all

nondestructive testing, and it'll be

able to tell us about the walls' pore

size and salt and water content. My

students can't wait to give it a field

test." And they won't just train it on

blue sections, she adds. At the Basilica

of Assisi, where murals were executed

by artists as prominent as Giot to

and Cimabue, "we're also seeing the

lead-white pigment turning black.

No one knows yet what the chemical

mechanisms are. In five or ten years,

I'm hoping we can at least slow down

these processes if not reverse them,

before these ¡mages disappear."

WMF.ORG • I C O N ' 43

FT c^ T<rz VIS IT ING W M F SITES FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE

St. George's Hall, Liverpool, England

GETTING THERE

Located on William Brown Street, Liv­

erpool Li lJJ, the Hall is a short walk

from Liverpool Lime Street train station.

Official re- _

opening will

take place on

St George's

Day, April 23,

2007. Tours

of the hall will

be available

Monday-Sat­

urday, but are

subject to availability. All bookings must

be done via Liverpool Direct, tel 44-0151-

233 2008. See www.visitliverpool.com for

more information.

MORE ABOUT IT

Agood overview of the city's archi­

tecture can be found in the Liver­

pool edition of Pevsner's Architectural

Guides by Joseph Sharpies, while Walks

Through History: Liverpool, by David

Lewis describes many tours exploring

the rich and varied heritage on offer. A

publication which gives a description

and history of the whole city is Liverpool:

Maritime Mercantile City, by the Liver­

pool World Heritage Steering Group.

WHILE IN LIVERPOOL

The 2008 European Capital of

Culture has a treasure trove of

sights to explore—possessing more

listed buildings than any city in the UK

outside London. The Walker Art Gallery,

the Beatles Story, Tate Liverpool, and

the Anglican Cathedral are among

many of the sites well worth a visit. You

could also combine your visit with a

trip to Manchester (less than an hour's

drive away) and visit the magnificent

Monastery of St Francis and Gorton,

built by E.W.Pugin in the 1860s and a

current project of WMF in Britain.

San Juan Bautista, Huaro, Peru

GETTING THERE

Some 40 kilometers south of Cuzco,

Huaro can be reached by car or bus.

For the latter, a minibus bound for Urcos

departs from in front of the regional

hospital on Avenida de la Cultura in

Cuzco every 15 minutes. For those who

wish to stay in Huaro, there is an inn in an

old house some 200 meters from Plaza

de Armas. A brief, but informative, bit

of travel information on Huaro itself—in

French oddly enough—can be found at

www.incario.com

MORE ABOUT IT

Vnumber of books have been pub­

lished on the paintings—all in Span­

ish—the most comprehensive being La

Pintura Mural Andina: Siglos XVI-XIX,

by Pablo Macera (Lima, 1993). One of

the best guide books on the traveling

throughout the region, including the Inca

trail, is the Lonely Ptanet's Peru.

WHILE IN HUARO & THE CUZCO AREA

(luzco, ancient capital of the Inca

^empire, is one of the most stunning

cities in Latin America—with an exotic

blend of Prehispanic and Colonial archi­

tecture. With daily flights from Lima, it

is the ideal jumpoff point for excursions

on the Inca trail to the north and south

to Huaro and other painted churches.

While in Huaro, do visit the local petro-

glyph museum. On view are a number

of stones carved with ancient symbols-

many of which were used to construct

the foundation of San Juan Bautista.

Battersea Power Station, London, England

GETTING THERE

Battersea Power Station is at present

closed to the public, although

tours can be arranged at the owner's

discretion. A closer view of the site can

be gained from traveling to Battersea

Park Train Station, which is five minutes

from Victoria Mainline Station.

MORE ABOUT IT

While Battersea has served as a

backdrop for a number of films,

including Alfred Hitchcock's Sabotage

(1936) and Ian McKellen and Richard

Loncraine's 1995 Richard III, surprisingly

little has been written on the structure

outside media coverage of the preserva­

tion debate. There is an interesting essay

on the structure in Anthony Sutcliffe's

recently released London: An Architec­

tural History (see review page 46). To

keep up with the preservation battle see

www.batterseapowerstation.org.uk

WHILE IN LONDON

\ \ 7 " ' v " = ' s restoration of St. George's VV Bloomsbury is complete and this

Hawksmoor church is open to the public at lunch times and longer at weekends. The church is a stone's throw from the British Museum, on Bloomsbury Way and in between Totteham Court Road and Holborn Tube Stations.

Dampier Rock Art Site, Burrup Peninsula, Australia

GETTING THERE

The Burrup Peninsula and the Dampier

Archipelago is some 20 kilometers

north of the town of Karratha, which can

be reached by plane via a two-hour flight

from Perth or by driving 1,500 kilometers

from Perth north to Karratha and on to

the central Pilbara coast to Dampier.

From Dampier look for the turnoff to the

Burrup Peninsula.

WHEN TO VISIT

Tropical, semi-desert climate which

reaches 45 degrees centigrade in

summer. Best times to visit are May,

June, July when median day tempera­

ture is 26-28 degrees C.

44 ICON WINTER 2006 /2007

WHILE ON THE PILBARA COAST

A mong the favored places in the area

are Hearson Cove, a sheltered picnic

and swimming spot. From there, take

an unmarked turnoff on the left 1.1 kilo­

meters out of Hearson's Cove to Deep

Gorge where there is another impressive

concentration of rock art. Other sites on

the Burrup include Withnell and Conzinc

bays, which boast spectacular scenery

and rock formations but can only be

reached by four-wheel-drive vehicles.

Segovia Aqueduct, Segovia, Spain

GETTING THERE

Declared a World Heritage City by

UNESCO in 1985, Segovia is just 60

kilometers northwest of Madrid, and can

be easily reached by bus and train. The

Roman aqueduct—which appeared on

all coins minted in the city from 1455 to

1864—is Segovia's most distinctive struc­

ture, its water source located in Rio Frio,

14 kilometers north of town.

MORE ABOUT IT

For information on Segovia and its crite­

ria for listing as a World Heritage City,

see whc.unesco.org/ and the website

of the government of Castilla y Leon (in

Spanish) www.jcyl.es/

WHILE IN SEGOVIA

A mong the city's highlights are the

Alcázar Castle, where Queen Isabella

promised Columbus backing for his voy­

ages to the New World, and its sixteenth-

century cathedral, the tallest structure in

Segovia. The city's mint—built in 1583 and

equipped with the day's most modern

waterwheel-driven minting technology—is

believed to be the world's oldest, still-

standing, industrial manufacturing plant.

BRAHCUSI'S ENDLESS COLUMN TÁRGU-JIU, ROMANIA

Essays by Alexandra Paragoris, Sorana Gorjan, Richard Newton,

Mihai Radii, and William Tucker

Edited by Ernest Beck

The Endless Column Complex by famed Romanian sculptor Constantin

Brancusi has been hailed as one of the great works of 20th-century open-

air art. Erected in a small town in Romania in 1934, it is composed of the

30-meter-high Endless Column and two stone monuments, the Gate of the

Kiss and the Table of Silence. This beautifully illustrated volume celebrates the

history of this remarkable artwork, and tells the story of the recent restoration,

landscaping, and presentation carried out by the World Monuments Fund.

Illustrated with rare archive and newly commissioned images, this short volume

is a stunning and authoritative guide to a unique monument.

To be published in June 2007, price $14-95 (£8.95)-Paperback, 80 pages, 278 x 204mm. ISBN: 978-1-85759-436-2.

For further details, contact Scala Publishers,

lO Northburgh St, London EClV oAT, UK.

Email: jmckinleu@scalapublishers.com. www.scalapublishers.com

WMF.ORG •ICON­ IC

I -f\ H I -1 I *-SELECTIONS FROM THE WMF BOOKSHELF

TUNISIAN MOSAICS: Treasures f rom Roman Afr ica BY ATCHA BEN ABED • GETTY PUBLICATIONS • $29.95 • 138 PP.

STORIES IN STONE: Conserving Mosaics of Roman Afr ica EDITED BY ATCHA BEN ABED • GETTY PUBLICATIONS • $75 • 188 PP.

When Pax Romana prevailed in what's now Tunisia, homeowners commissioned mosaic floors

depicting all their favorite hobbies: banqueting, hunting, fishing, horseback riding, read­

ing poetry, putting on makeup, ordering around servants, or watching gladiator games.

The images were sometimes set in floral grids, like giant carpets. When the houses fell into ruins,

debris protected the floors from the elements. But nineteenth-century archaeologists and foreign

soldiers nonetheless thought that the more vividly pictorial mosaics, at least, would be better off

in museums. Without documenting sites, excavators cut scenes into portable panels, pried off the

lime mortar bedding, reset the tiles in plaster and jute, and carted them away. The simpler floral

and geometric examples, meanwhile, were left in situ, and sometimes misguidedly patched with

cement. Tunisian Mosaics, by ATcha Ben Abed, the director of monuments and sites at Tunisia's

National Institute of Cultural Heritage, lucidly explains how tile-pattern fashions evolved in the

Roman colonies and what treatment standards are now enforced. Thanks partly to Getty funding,

crews are being trained to apply gentle cleansers, stabilize lacunae, inject reversible grout, and

keep tourists' feet off the floors. ATcha Ben Abed has also edited a companion volume,

^ Stones in Stone. (Both books accompany a mosaics show at the Getty, through

April 30.) With eight essays by scholars from Tunisia or the Getty, Stories in Stone

delves into how North Africans under Roman rule expressed their independence

through mosaic. Rich patrons craved realistic designs with regional flavor, for instance

depicting quintessential^ Tunisian fishing tools like basket traps, floating gill nets, and

tunnoscopeia (tuna lookout shelters). African takes on mythology are also visible in

the floors; sea-related gods and goddesses were favorites, including Venus, Neptune,

Oceanus, Nereid, and the Tritons. And by the sixth century, Christian Tunisians were

funding religious mosaics for basilicas—in fact, nowhere else in the former Roman colonies

were mosaics so popular on baptismal fonts and tombs. The authors also explore conserva­

tion attempts over the centuries. Modern methods have pros and cons: temporary shelters

can worsen condensation, while reburial can allow plants to root in the stone tesserae.

' C «

LONDON: An Archi tectural History BY ANTHONY SUTCLIFFE • YALE UNIVERSITY PRESS • $60 • 249 PP.

First-time visitors to London sometimes have a tough time getting a visual grip on the

city, given its eclectic architecture, patchwork of formerly independent villages, and

lack of grand boulevards. Anthony Sutcliffe, a historian at the universities of Leicester

and Nottingham, has managed to find and explain some common streetscape threads.

London real estate still mostly belongs to aristocrats, and the long-term leases keep down

land prices as well as building heights; for most developers, a site they don't own isn't

worth a tall building. The government has never seized enough property to lay down Pari­

sian-style avenues or build palaces and gardens at the scale of the Louvre or Versailles.

And until clean-air regulations were imposed in the 1950s, London suffered notoriously

from acidic pollution; only a few kinds of brick and hard-to-carve stone could withstand

the atmosphere, which explains the prevailing drab facade palette and lack of balconies or

other projecting ornament. Sutcliffe's lively prose chronicles the metamorphosis of a first-

century Roman outpost into an Elizabethan "chronic fire trap," a pious seventeenth-cen­

tury array of church domes and spires, a Victorian imperial capital, and a modern financial

hub. The author analyzes building types (including theaters, markets, prisons, and of course

pubs) and supplies mini-bios of architects like Christopher Wren, Nicholas Hawksmoor,

Inigo Jones, and John Nash. The book is also rich in aerial views that help readers make

sense of the steeples and office towers punctuating the muddled street patterns.

• ICON ' WINTER. 2006/2007

ABUNDANCE

o F LIFE , , r „^< >-"" ' " """

CATHEDRALS OF THE WORLD BY GRAZIELLA LEYLA CIAGA • WHITE STAR • $19.95 • 210 PP.

What have Catholic, Anglican, Byzantine, Russian Orthodox, and nondenominational Christian

congregations looked for in a cathedral since the 530s? Milan-based restoration architect Gra­

ziella Leyla Ciagá answers the question by examining 36 examples in 12 countries. Along with

expected candidates like Notre Dame and St. Peter's, she includes off-the-beaten-path attractions like

1960s metal paraboloids in Japan designed by Kenzo Tange and the gilded l8lOs domes of St. Isaac's in

St. Petersburg. Gaga's detailed technical descriptions allow readers to compare structural systems: the

triple-shelled dome of St. Paul's in London, for instance, versus the quintet of domes on barrel arches

at St. Mark's in Venice and the laminated-wood fish-scale roof panels on steel struts that Renzo Piano

recently built near Naples. The book also serves as a kind of catalog of popular religious architectural

ornament. Close-ups of sixth-century mosaics in Ravenna reveal individual wing feathers and hair

strands on portraits of saints, while folk-inspired scrollwork courses through the Victorian wooden ceil­

ing that Sir George Gilbert Scott added to the austere stone vaults of eleventh-century Ely Cathedral.

ABUNDANCE OF LIFE: Etruscan Wall Painting BY STEPHAN STEINGRÁBER • GETTY PUBLICATIONS • $125 • 328 PP.

From the seventh to third centuries B.C.E., stone workers carved by candlelight or oil-lamp flame to

scoop out hundreds of tombs for Etruscan aristocrats in sandstone or tufa cliffs northwest of Rome.

Painters would descend into each new room to fresco the walls with scenes from mythology or the

deceased's life, along with trompe-l'oeil architectural details (moldings, doors, pilasters, ceiling coffers).

Archaeologists have been uncovering the colorful chambers and trying to decipher their iconography

since 1699. The mural themes—hunting, banqueting, carousing, playing sports—are almost invariably cheer­

ful. Only rarely, and only in the later tombs, do any corpses, mourners, or underworld demons make

appearances. Somehow the Etruscans, even while their cities were falling under Roman rule, stayed opti­

mistic and faithful to their belief in a joyful afterlife. Stephan Steingráber, a Rome-based Etruscologist,

lays out how scholars have analyzed the tomb pictures over the past three centuries. He also compares

the paintings to Etruscan artifacts and explains how conservators' policies have evolved. The frescoes

used to be routinely, "rather barbarically," ripped out and moved to museums, but now are left in situ,

behind glass doors that keep out tourists and maintain climate control. The book's near life-size pho­

tos, printed on rough-textured paper, are a superb substitute for actual visits to the fragile frescoes.

ANCIENT CHURCHES OF ROME FROM THE FOURTH TO THE SEVENTH CENTURY: The Dawn of Christian Architecture in the West BY HUGO BRANDENBURG • BREPOLS • $145 • 336 PP.

(onstantine the Great converted to Christianity with such zeal in the year 312 that he not only

banned religious persecution in his realm, but dug deep into imperial coffers to finance wide-

'spread church construction. He cleared the first site for a basilica in Rome, tearing down bar­

racks of soldiers who opposed him. Dozens of basilicas were soon built with imperial funds, while

Constantine's wealthier subjects and the earliest popes started commissioning their own church­

es, especially at the graves of Christian martyrs. The builders salvaged marble columns and other

construction materials (spolia is historians' official term for this booty) from older buildings. But

usually they did not simply adapt existing structures into sacred space, with the famous exception

of the Pantheon, which was Christianized in 608. Many of the new churches were located out­

side city walls—the converts didn't want to worship downtown, near what German archaeologist

Hugo Brandenburg calls "pagan temples in slow decay." This lavishly illustrated volume analyzes

intact, heavily altered, and long-razed churches with equal rigor. The author has pored through

ecclesiastical archives, deciphered allegorical murals, researched the quarry origins of marble

fragments in mosaics, and even looked at the latest dendrochronology studies of wood frames.

If

' OJO K

G

To purchase titles featured here, click on WMF s Amazon.com link on our website at www.wmf.org.

Commissions on books purchased through our website support WMF field projects.

ICON' IV

P O S T C A R D F R O M T H E F I E L D N O V E M B E R 2 3 2 O O 6

n-->:H--L>Vi i M ? . r CROATIA

Apart of the former communist state of Yugoslavia,

the Republic of Croatia, or República Hrvatska,

lies along the northeast coast of the Adriatic. It is a

land well-endowed with historic sites, but is largely

known throughout Europe for its natural assets, particularly

the Dalmatian coast. For years, this stunning stretch of

coastline has been a choice destination for tourists, lured

there by its crystal-clear waters—Cousteau loved it—on­

shore breezes, and hospitable ports of call nestled on its

1,000 plus islands.

The region's economy depended heavily on tourism

dollars brought in by the Dalmatian Coast. That was until

1990, when fierce ethnic fighting in the western Balkans

wreaked havoc on Croatia, resulting in a devastating civil

war during 1991 and 1992. The area hardest hit was Dalmatia,

especially the ancient towns of Zadar and Dubrovnik.

When calm returned to the country in the mid-

1990s, W M F was asked to be part of a massive post­

war reconstruction effort. The organization responded,

launching projects to restore the heavily damaged

Ducal Palace in Zadar—built between the thirteenth and

nineteenth centuries—and repair the roof and library wing

of the sixteenth-century Franciscan monastery in the

walled city of Dubrovnik. W M F subsequently took on the

restoration of the Temple of Jupiter within Diocletian's

1,700-year-old Palace at Split (see ICON Fall 2004)

As WMF's technical director, I recently made my third

tr ip to Croatia, having managed the organization's Balkan

portfolio since 1999- Aside from checking in on the progress

we have made at these sites, I had come to launch a suite

of new projects in the country, including a second phase

of restoration within the Peristyle court at Diocletian's

Palace—which will be carried out in partnership with the

city of Split and launched with a grant from W M F sponsor

American Express—and to initiate conservation work on the

front entry facade of the baroque style Church of St. Blaise,

a 2006 Watch site named in honor of the beloved patron

saint of the city.

During my visit I was impressed by how much skilled

restoration has been accomplished in Croatia over the past

decade. This still little-known country is once again being

rediscovered, regaining its economic legs, and restoring its

rich heritage in the process. In fact, it is estimated that 95

percent of all that was destroyed during the war has been

repaired.

As I settled into my flight home and began to pen this

note, I recalled that the fountain pen was invented by a

Croatian named Penkala in 1907 and that the neck tie that

I just loosened originated in the seventeenth century as an

accent to the Croatian military uniform, later adopted by

the French as the cravat—a hybrid of the words Croat and

Hrvat. Who knew?! - M A R K WEBER

FROM TOP: A VIEW OF

DUBROVNIK AND ITS

BEAUTIFUL HARBOR;

REPRESENTATIVES FROM

THE CITY OF SPLIT,

AMERICAN EXPRESS, AND

WMF ASSEMBLE IN THE

PERISTYLE COURTYARD

OF DIOCLETIAN'S PALACE

TO CELEBRATE THE

COMPLETION OF A FIRST

PHASE OF RESTORATION;

THE CHURCH OF ST.

BLAISE IN DUBROVNIK,

WHERE WMF IS

LAUNCHING AN EFFORT

TO RESTORE THE CARVED

CENTRAL ENTRANCE BAY

OF THE FRONT FACADE.

48 ICON W I N T E R 2 0 0 6 / 2 0 0 7

Where do WMF

Every day, irreplaceable cultural and historical monuments are threatened by

war, development, pollution, natural disaster, and neglect. Your membership

support makes a difference. Nearly 90% of all membership donations go

directly toward fieldwork and educational programs that have made W M F

an international leader in architectural preservation for over 40 years.

Renew your membership today or join online at www.wmf.org.

Call 646-424-9594 for more information.

W O R L D M O N U M E N T S F U N D

INTRODUCING THE FRANK GEHRY COLLECTION

TIFFANY & Co.